Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 2)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

10 minutes ago, haresfur said:

 

You went wrong with freezing the banana. Next question.

 

I like fruit, mango or vanilla yogurt, orange juice, and ice. My partner likes fruit, yogurt, and ice - or maybe no ice. Frozen berries or mangoes go in frozen.

 

I thought the point was to use as little ice as possible.  Books I've read say to freeze the bananas.  But again I have no experience with smoothies.

 

[chromedome]

I would say the issue is with your apartment freezer, because I freeze lots of bananas and that doesn't happen.

 

I'm not a huge smoothie-drinker, but I have found that freezing the bananas does two things. One, as you've said, is that it chills the smoothie without the necessity of ice. The other, a personal observation, is that room-temp bananas tend to make the mixture frothier and airier while frozen bananas do not. I find frothiness to be undesirable - your mileage, as always, may vary - so when I *do* make a smoothie, the bananas (if I use 'em) are invariably frozen.

[TdeV]

I drink a lot of breakfast smoothies, using only 2 fresh bananas, 12 oz Greek yogurt and fruit. Now that winter is here, I'll use only frozen fruit. No ice and no juice.

 

I find that the less ripe the bananas, the thicker the resultant smoothie will be. I.e. a banana that's nearly black still makes a fine smoothie, but will be very liquid by then.

 

[MokaPot]

13 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I thought the point was to use as little ice as possible.  Books I've read say to freeze the bananas.  But again I have no experience with smoothies.

 

 

I think the point is to use as little ice as possible unless you've got some concentrated flavors in there that could use some watering down.

 

In the past, I've used a frozen berry mix, no bananas. Yes on the yogurt. I think I added some whole milk as well. Really good.

 

I think it was this berry mix that I used (has seeds, though):

 

 

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

16 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Now a day later the bananas are brown liquid.  I was hoping at least for something semisolid.  Where did I go wrong?  Could I still use them for a smoothie?

For 10+ years, I had a smoothie every weekday. Frozen bananas were often included. Depending on how ripe they were when frozen, color ranged from off-white to beige/tan. I never encountered a brown liquid banana in a functional freezer and if I did, it would be discarded. 

[heidih]

11 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

For 10+ years, I had a smoothie every weekday. Frozen bananas were often included. Depending on how ripe they were when frozen, color ranged from off-white to beige/tan. I never encountered a brown liquid banana in a functional freezer and if I did, it would be discarded. 

I thought she meant the not so pretty brown ooze was in the brief home freezer time, Like they were thawing. Caveat - bananas are generally on my "no fly" list. 

[weinoo]

Certainly sounds like the bananas thawed somewhere along the way to getting to your fancy new blender...(same one I use).

 

Like anyone cares, I go for kefir in my smoothies - but I have no problem adding ice if all I have is fresh fruit.

 

And I don't mind a shot of nut butter, or even a handful of cashews, almonds, whatever thrown into the blend.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, heidih said:

I thought she meant the not so pretty brown ooze was in the brief home freezer time, Like they were thawing. Caveat - bananas are generally on my "no fly" list. 

 

The bananas were frozen solid at -30C when I put them in the freezer.

 

The bananas were mushy and floating in brown ooze at the time I made my post.

 

The bananas are still mushy and drowning in brown ooze.

 

There is a reason that I bought a blast freezer.

 

[weinoo]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

There is a reason that I bought a blast freezer.

Maybe you could sell some of that stuff you never use any more, and buy a decent regular freezer as well as the blast.

[Kerry Beal]

53 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Maybe you could sell some of that stuff you never use any more, and buy a decent regular freezer as well as the blast.

She’d never get it up the stairs!

[blue_dolphin]

13 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

The bananas are still mushy and drowning in brown ooze.

 

There is a reason that I bought a blast freezer.

 

What's the temp inside your brown ooze freezer?  It seems like you could make a food-safety liability case for a replacement or repair. 

 

When I was living in my last apartment, the landlord decided to stop including refrigerators. They told me if I bought my own fridge, I could take $25/mo off the rent. I was delighted to do so. I'd have paid them to haul the awful little thing away.  It is common in California for rental units to come without refrigerators, probably not so much in your area. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

What's the temp inside your brown ooze freezer?  It seems like you could make a food-safety liability case for a replacement or repair. 

 

When I was living in my last apartment, the landlord decided to stop including refrigerators. They told me if I bought my own fridge, I could take $25/mo off the rent. I was delighted to do so. I'd have paid them to haul the awful little thing away.  It is common in California for rental units to come without refrigerators, probably not so much in your area. 

 

-6.2C (266.95K)

 

Around the turn of the century management offered me a new refrigerator.  With much effort they got it up the stairs.  I was instructed to move my food to the "new" refrigerator, after which the old would be removed.  However the "new" refrigerator was marred by purple jelly, and worse, the "new" refrigerator was too small to contain the contents.  I had the superintendent haul the "new" appliance away.  Still it would have been nice to have a frost free freezer.

 

[blue_dolphin]

Sorry they didn't offer you a full size option!

 

15 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Still it would have been nice to have a frost free freezer.

Yes, that was the best part of getting rid of my old one!

[kayb]

Re: smoothies. I got on a kick a while back, and still indulge in them. My standard: almond milk, Greek yogurt, protein powder, a combo of frozen and fresh fruit. My preference is peaches and berries. Generally don't need ice. Of course, I don't care if mine is fairly liquid.

[MetsFan5]

I have a surplus of scallions and was considering using some of them up with this recipe:

https://www.justataste.com/easy-scallion-pancakes-with-soy-dipping-sauce-recipe/
 

I was wondering if I could use my kitchen aid mixer instead of my extremely large food processor since the KA mixer is an easier clean up. Any advice? Any other suggestions for how to use up scallions? 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

23 minutes ago, MetsFan5 said:

I have a surplus of scallions and was considering using some of them up with this recipe:

https://www.justataste.com/easy-scallion-pancakes-with-soy-dipping-sauce-recipe/
 

I was wondering if I could use my kitchen aid mixer instead of my extremely large food processor since the KA mixer is an easier clean up. Any advice? Any other suggestions for how to use up scallions? 

 

For a small amount of dough I would use my Cuisinart food processor over the KitchenAid.

 

Scallions?  Never underestimate Momofuku ranch.  (Which as it happens is tonight's dinner, along with Romain and organic Campari tomatoes.)

 

 

[MetsFan5]

15 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

For a small amount of dough I would use my Cuisinart food processor over the KitchenAid.

 

Scallions?  Never underestimate Momofuku ranch.  (Which as it happens is tonight's dinner, along with Romain and organic Campari tomatoes.)

 

 

 My Cuisinart is a 7 cup model. Would you still use it? I’ve actually never tried it. 🙈

[JoNorvelleWalker]

38 minutes ago, MetsFan5 said:

 My Cuisinart is a 7 cup model. Would you still use it? I’ve actually never tried it. 🙈

 

Mine is an ancient DLC-7 from the 1980's.  One of the few things I use it for is small batches of dough, for example pasta dough.  In my experience the KitchenAid is totally useless save for a huge amount of dough.*  But then I have the largest KitchenAid.  For most dough I use and love my Ankarsrum mixer.  Even having the Ankarsrum I'd still use the Cuisinart for those scallion pancakes.

 

 

*Modernist Bread says the minimum dough amount in the KitchenAid is 1.5kg.

 

[blue_dolphin]

9 hours ago, MetsFan5 said:

Any other suggestions for how to use up scallions? 

 

Grilled scallions are a favorite of mine.  Oiled, on a grill, or a grill pan or just a cast iron skillet.  Dip in romesco or ranch or whatever you like.  Or cut them up and dress more as a salad/relish.  

Examples:  Tri-Tip Steak with Grilled Scallion, Ginger and Cilantro Relish, Grilled Scallion Salad with Korean flavors.

 

From her book, Deep Run Roots, Vivian Howard’s Charred Spring Vegetables with Creamy Scallion Dressing both grills scallions (along with a few other veg) and uses them in a delicious dressing. The little hushpuppy croutons are a treat. Her Scallion Au Gratin is kind of a savory, cheesy bread pudding and uses 12 scallions

 

Here's a thread that might have more ideas for you:  Scallions

[weinoo]

11 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Mine is an ancient DLC-7 from the 1980's

I have this one down in storage - with the really thick power cord, and weighs a goodly amount. Much heavier duty than the one I bought to replace it - maybe I should rescue it from storage - it needs a whole new bowl contraption.

 

And my answer to which to use is the processor over the Kitchen Aid.

 

I use a lot of scallions making the classic ginger/scallion sauce...https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2016/04/22/francis-lam-s-ginger-scallion-sauce

Edited February 11, 2021 by weinoo (log)

[heidih]

@MetsFan5 And if you re stuck and they are looking limpish don't forget @rotuts favorite storage trick where they continue to grow. In water, just snip  off green as needed.  https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-store-green-onions-scallions-1389341

Edited February 11, 2021 by heidih (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

11 hours ago, MetsFan5 said:

I have a surplus of scallions and was considering using some of them up with this recipe:

https://www.justataste.com/easy-scallion-pancakes-with-soy-dipping-sauce-recipe/
 

I was wondering if I could use my kitchen aid mixer instead of my extremely large food processor since the KA mixer is an easier clean up. Any advice? Any other suggestions for how to use up scallions? 

 

18 minutes ago, heidih said:

@MetsFan5 And if you re stuck and they are looking limpish don't forget @rotuts favorite storage trick where they continue to grow. In water, just snip  off green as needed.  https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-store-green-onions-scallions-1389341

You don't need any machine to make this dough.   Hot water dough comes together easily, then given an hour rest rolls out beautifully.    Especially for a small (household) batch.    Maybe try half a recipe to get the feel of it.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I go through at least 3 bunches of scallions a week.   Grilled as a vegetable, in salsas,  chopped over cooked dishes, certainly ranch-type dressings like Momofuku or as BD suggests upthread Howard's creamy dressing.     I toss the julliened greens over lots of plates for color and flavor.    ETA most favorite use = in stir fry of pork or beef tossed with Shanghai noodles.

Edited February 11, 2021 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

[ElsieD]

Dumb question here.  Our local food store sells a jalapeño corn bread.  It is in loaf form.  I'm sure i can find a recipe to make this or something very similar but the recipes I've seen call for it to be baked in a cast iron or an 8 x 8 pan, in other words, anything but a loaf pan.   If I bake it in a loaf pan will that affect the rise at all? 

[heidih]

32 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Dumb question here.  Our local food store sells a jalapeño corn bread.  It is in loaf form.  I'm sure i can find a recipe to make this or something very similar but the recipes I've seen call for it to be baked in a cast iron or an 8 x 8 pan, in other words, anything but a loaf pan.   If I bake it in a loaf pan will that affect the rise at all? 

Not dumb just confusing because "cornbread" has various meanings to different people and regions. Sounds more like a cornmeal quick bread. I do that with the old standard Jiffy mix and add -ins, Here is a from scratch example that I think fits. Different texture and crust than in cast iron mama but if you're looking to the one you've tasted from store should work.  https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/jalapeno-corn-bread

Edited March 3, 2021 by heidih (log)