Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 2)

[MokaPot]

According to Serious Eats:

 

Quote

"As for shallots in particular, it's difficult to tell whether one shallot is going to split into one, two, three, or even four cloves when you peel it, so when our recipes call for "one medium shallot," it's referring to the entire thing, no matter how many cloves it splits into.

 

https://www.seriouseats.com/2012/10/ask-the-food-lab-on-sizing-shallots-and-frying-curry.html

 

So, Serious Eats is saying that the entire bulb is one shallot (for Serious Eats recipes). I would have thought you had two shallots there, @Smithy.

 

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

I have no clue and that's exactly why I detest recipes that call for: 1 apple, sliced or the juice of one lemon.  GIVE ME THE AMOUNT.  I don't even care if it is in US or Metric - anything is better than one of something that can be almost any size!

 

I totally agree and always bless Ottolenghi for providing weights for everything, even herbs.  I'm fine with making my own decisions on how much to use but very much appreciate when the original intent is clearly defined. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Does orange blossom water go bad or lose its flavor?  I have a bottle with a best by date of 2013.  Would it be OK to use it?

 

[blue_dolphin]

30 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Does orange blossom water go bad or lose its flavor?  I have a bottle with a best by date of 2013.  Would it be OK to use it?

 

In my opinion, it loses flavor over time.  Just rummaged through the cupboard and found a bottle of Nielsen-Massey orange flower water with a best by date in 2016.  There's not much to it, but what's there is delicate and pleasant.  I've been using a bottle of Cortas brand, purchased in the last year, with a best by date in early 2022 that's about 1000% more aromatic.  I don't believe it should be dangerous so go ahead and give it the sniff/taste test and see if it's got anything left.

[Toliver]

Pecorino Romano

 

My brother bought some shredded Pecorino Romano and has no idea what to use it in/with.

He said the cheese is "assertive" (he actually used the words "Stinky Cheese" ). Now he needs help in what kind of dishes or recipes to use it on or in.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[rotuts]

On pasta

[gfweb]

1 minute ago, Toliver said:

Pecorino Romano

 

My brother bought some shredded Pecorino Romano and has no idea what to use it in/with.

He said the cheese is "assertive" (he actually used the words "Stinky Cheese" ). Now he needs help in what kind of dishes or recipes to use it on or in.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 He's unworthy of the cheese.

He should give it to you

[rotuts]

but  ....  its been shredded  

[heidih]

Well if that is "stinky" to him the poor boy may be SOL. Treat it like shredded parm (or even "green can"). Tad stronger but barely - at least the stuff I ended up with on occasion from the grocery store pre packaged cheese area. Works in salads like Caesar or kale.  Like this https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11746-tuscan-kale-salad

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Pasta!    eg cacio e pepe, carbonara      He's probably been eating it for years and never knew it.

[Toliver]

2 hours ago, gfweb said:

 He's unworthy of the cheese.

He should give it to you

He lives in another city so if I tell him to put it in his freezer, I can pick it up sometimes later when the Pandemic is over.

I think you're right...the cheese is way above his paygrade, so to speak.

[robirdstx]

2 hours ago, Toliver said:

Pecorino Romano

 

My brother bought some shredded Pecorino Romano and has no idea what to use it in/with.

He said the cheese is "assertive" (he actually used the words "Stinky Cheese" ). Now he needs help in what kind of dishes or recipes to use it on or in.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Saltgrass Steak House Romano Potatoes from the Houston Chronicle. Not much of the cheese is used in this recipe, but these potatoes are really good!

Edited December 3, 2020 by robirdstx (log)

[weinoo]

3 hours ago, Toliver said:

Pecorino Romano

 

My brother bought some shredded Pecorino Romano and has no idea what to use it in/with.

He said the cheese is "assertive" (he actually used the words "Stinky Cheese" ). Now he needs help in what kind of dishes or recipes to use it on or in.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

3 hours ago, rotuts said:

On pasta

 

1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Pasta!    eg cacio e pepe, carbonara      He's probably been eating it for years and never knew it.

 

Yeah, typically classic on these Roman pasta dishes.  If you can ever get your hands on real pecorino Romano from Lazio (i don't think there are many producers left there, but DiPalo's will occasionally have some of the real deal under the counter), it's much different than pecorino from Sardinia or Tuscany. Better? You be the judge.

[heidih]

25 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Yeah, typically classic on these Roman pasta dishes.  If you can ever get your hands on real pecorino Romano from Lazio (i don't think there are many producers left there, but DiPalo's will occasionally have some of the real deal under the counter), it's much different than pecorino from Sardinia or Tuscany. Better? You be the judge.

I think this may be the stuff that is closer to shredded wax. The "real deal" you mention is wonderful and special.

Edited December 3, 2020 by heidih (log)

[weinoo]

DiPalo's usually has 4 or 5 different pecorinos.  Tuscan, Sardinian, maybe some from Lazio.  And they have them in different ages; what they call table/eating cheese tends to be softer, not too salty, and just great. Then, as you go up into the more aged pecorno, they get saltier, a little funkier, and are better for grating. Making spaghetti cacio e pepe, I'll  use some of each, if I have more than one in inventory.  

[TdeV]

My family is currently eating a (leftover) casserole made with Butternut squash and potatoes, sliced on the mandoline, with grated Pecorino Romano sprinkled between the layers. Maybe some granulated garlic and onion.

 

Totally divine!

 

[Katie Meadow]

On 12/3/2020 at 3:53 PM, weinoo said:

DiPalo's usually has 4 or 5 different pecorinos.  Tuscan, Sardinian, maybe some from Lazio.  And they have them in different ages; what they call table/eating cheese tends to be softer, not too salty, and just great. Then, as you go up into the more aged pecorno, they get saltier, a little funkier, and are better for grating. Making spaghetti cacio e pepe, I'll  use some of each, if I have more than one in inventory.  

I'm envious! Where I shop the pecorino comes and goes, the variety keeps changing. I find one I swoon over, and then they never get it again. Pecorino Molitarno was one of those, but there were lots of others. They used to regularly stock Pecorino Stagionato, both plain and truffled. Loved them both, though I didn't splurge too often on the truffled one. Now it's gone. Annoying. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I'm not sure this counts as absurdly stupidly basic, but it is a cooking question.  Tonight's repast was a delicious Berkshire chop cooked on the Philips grill.  I've been perusing Nik Sharma's The Flavor Equation.  Over dinner I was surprised to learn:

 

"Cooking by heat can also help with oxidation.  When pork is roasted at temperatures below 212F [100C], the number of lipid-derived food molecules increases, which give it that characteristic aroma loved by meat eaters." (p326).

 

Does cooking below 100C really qualify as roasting? Did Sharma misspeak or is something going on that I don't understand?

 

[Anna N]

6 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Does cooking below 100C really qualify as roasting?

I can find many instances suggesting that roasting refers to an oven temperature of 400° or higher but no support for why this should be or who decided on this cut off point. But dictionary definitions seem to suggest that roasting is nothing more than exposing food to heat. It is an interesting question. 

[Toliver]

At my local grocery stores, I can buy bacon pieces, bacon bits, maple-cured bacon chunks in sealed commercial plastic bags on the shelves of the salad dressing aisle. I refrigerate them once they are opened.

But what I can't seem to find in the salad dressing aisle is bacon-fat dressing for my spinach salad.

Why?

I am thinking the issue may be the bacon fat going rancid after too long sitting on the grocery store shelf. But the bacon bits, etc., don't go bad sealed in their pouches.

What if the dressing is a one-off (one serving only) then why can't they hermetically seal (or whatever) the packaging so I can have a nice bacon fat dressing for my spinach salad?

It's got to be doable.

Any SSB's on board to explain this?

 

[heidih]

Cuz people can't deal with  hard white fat? Seriously in my bacon fat spinach salad experience you cook the bacon hard to crumble stage and then assemble with the liquid fat. Bacon fat, as evidenced by the coffee can on the counter many report, stays solid. 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Toliver said:

At my local grocery stores, I can buy bacon pieces, bacon bits, maple-cured bacon chunks in sealed commercial plastic bags on the shelves of the salad dressing aisle. I refrigerate them once they are opened.

But what I can't seem to find in the salad dressing aisle is bacon-fat dressing for my spinach salad.

Why?

I am thinking the issue may be the bacon fat going rancid after too long sitting on the grocery store shelf. But the bacon bits, etc., don't go bad sealed in their pouches.

What if the dressing is a one-off (one serving only) then why can't they hermetically seal (or whatever) the packaging so I can have a nice bacon fat dressing for my spinach salad?

It's got to be doable.

Any SSB's on board to explain this?

 

I suspect it is less a question of shelflife and more a question of a market for such a product. Any time that I have had a bacon fat dressing on a salad it has been a hot dressing. Cold bacon fat doesn’t do a lot for me in terms of a dressing. 

[Toliver]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

I suspect it is less a question of shelflife and more a question of a market for such a product. Any time that I have had a bacon fat dressing on a salad it has been a hot dressing. Cold bacon fat doesn’t do a lot for me in terms of a dressing. 

Well, I would have no problem heating the dressing in the microwave or on the stove.

As it was, I bought a sort of Italian-ish salad dressing and heated that to put on my spinach salad. It was a poor substitute, alas, for the real thing.

 

[Kim Shook]

On 12/14/2020 at 8:24 PM, Toliver said:

Well, I would have no problem heating the dressing in the microwave or on the stove.

As it was, I bought a sort of Italian-ish salad dressing and heated that to put on my spinach salad. It was a poor substitute, alas, for the real thing.

 

Google "hot bacon dressing brands" and choose "shopping" and see if anything that comes up is available near you.  There are lots of them.  

[kayb]

Is there any special reason you're not frying the diced bacon, pouring it over your salad, and then splashing in a bit of wine vinegar?