Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 2)

[Tropicalsenior]

11 minutes ago, SLB said:

I am wanting to make it as a backpacking snack,

Okay, then stem Ginger wouldn't work for what you want. The first recipe above from David looks to be about the easiest method. When you buy your Ginger, make sure that it is young fresh ginger. That is the pale colored Ginger with the pink tinge. The old Ginger will take hours to soften and will wind up tasting like cardboard sometimes. The new Ginger will cook up much better but will sometimes be quite hot.

Just be careful about using it for nausea. You can overdose on it and make yourself even sicker. Been there, done that.

[heidih]

40 minutes ago, SLB said:

Thank you.  I am wanting to make it as a backpacking snack, so I'm not sure the stem stuff would work.  I can get nauseous when backpacking with a large pack, I'm not really sure why.  But I'm thinking, ginger is what they give you for that in helicopters . . . .

 

An easier option for that nausea would be the ginger candy in your pack.. A lot of women use it for pregnancy nausea.  2 Bags Trader Joe's Ginger Chews (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

[haresfur]

On 6/9/2021 at 5:59 AM, heidih said:

Well unless it is just a veil of granite - no the stuff is tough. Usually a good inch thick.  I had a granite insert (18" x 18") in one kitchen counter that was tile so I could pour nuclear hot candy on the slab. The ex went through a peanut brittle phase.

 

PS: your avatar is so joyful

 

I tend to be risk adverse when it comes to things that are hard to replace and only have fake-stone. Be aware that there is granite and granite, and many counter tops sold as granite could be something with completely different properties. As a geologist, I think you would be safest with something that has uniform tightly bound grains with no indication of cracks that might have formed and sealed underground. But that doesn't say that something else wouldn't be safe.

 

I suppose the best thing would be to ask for a cutting board size piece when you are having your counters put in and try with that first. Maybe the piece they cut out for the sink. Hindsight.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, haresfur said:

I tend to be risk adverse when it comes to things that are hard to replace

Exactly. A trivet costs almost nothing but replacing a length of granite counter…..

[Tropicalsenior]

11 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

You can overdose on it

I just thought I would mention an interesting fact that I learned some years ago. My husband had been on a green tea kick. He bought a huge package of it and then just lost interest. Rather than let it go to waste I decided to make iced tea with it. It was a hot day and it tasted so good that I drank almost the whole pitcher. I had no idea that green tea was a wonderful laxative. I do now!

This probably belongs in the 'I will never again' thread!

Edited June 10, 2021 by Tropicalsenior
Addition (log)

[MokaPot]

3 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I just thought I would mention an interesting fact that I learned some years ago. My husband had been on a green tea kick. He bought a huge package of it and then just lost interest. Rather than let it go to waste I decided to make iced tea with it. It was a hot day and it tasted so good that I drank almost the whole pitcher. I had no idea that green tea was a wonderful laxative. I do now!

This probably belongs in the 'I will never again' thread!

 

And green tea does have caffeine, which I didn't know.

 

[SLB]

I am glad to know all of this, whew.  

[heidih]

6 minutes ago, MokaPot said:

 

And green tea does have caffeine, which I didn't know.

 

When I used to keep a pitcher of it in the fridge it always made the boys laugh. It is bodily fluid yellow made from good quality Japanese tea leaves. Never encountered the laxative effect.

[Tropicalsenior]

48 minutes ago, heidih said:

Never encountered the laxative effect.

You probably never drank the whole pitcher of tea.

[heidih]

55 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

You plrobably never drank the whole pitcher of tea.

T'was only me. On hot days - yes.

[lindag]

When working butter into four/sugar mix instead of using a one’s fingers or a pastry cutter can you not use a food processor?

[chromedome]

24 minutes ago, lindag said:

When working butter into four/sugar mix instead of using a one’s fingers or a pastry cutter can you not use a food processor?

I frequently do. If *some* larger bits are required for flakiness, I'll add those separately and then just pulse a bit.

[heidih]

25 minutes ago, chromedome said:

I frequently do. If *some* larger bits are required for flakiness, I'll add those separately and then just pulse a bit.

You donlt worry abkut heat generation or is the time so brief as to make it negligible?

[chromedome]

I haven't found it to be an issue with my elderly-but-stalwart Cuise. YMMV.

 

My butter is always straight from the fridge, if that matters (I typically only do this for biscuits and piecrust). If I'm using warmed/softened butter in anything (cakes, cookies, what have you), I'll be using my stand mixer instead.

[liuzhou]

It's a lot easier to wash your hands than to wash a food processor.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

My hands don't go in the dishwasher.

 

[lindag]

Let me preface my question with information that I very rarely cook with ground pork (lest you think I’m I’m incredibly stupid).

I took a package of ground meat out of the freezer believing it was ground beef.  As I cooked it I noticed it smelled and looked different.  I’m pretty darned sure now It was was pork.

I was making it into a homemade sloppy joe mix in my crockpot (it’s over 100F Here this week)/

Question:  is this going to be really awful?

[heidih]

1 hour ago, lindag said:

Let me preface my question with information that I very rarely cook with ground pork (lest you think I’m I’m incredibly stupid).

I took a package of ground meat out of the freezer believing it was ground beef.  As I cooked it I noticed it smelled and looked different.  I’m pretty darned sure now It was was pork.

I was making it into a homemade sloppy joe mix in my crockpot (it’s over 100F Here this week)/

Question:  is this going to be really awful?

Most ground pork from major chain markets  these days is hyper lean so factor that in -  may be dry. Part kf the whole "the other white meat" movement. Taste super mild.

[rotuts]

@lindag 

 

it will be fine , as long as the GrPk was handled correctly.

 

you might adjust the seasoning for the last 15 mninutes

 

If your result isn't close enough to the beef.

[weinoo]

3 hours ago, lindag said:

Question:  is this going to be really awful?

Actually, the first question is: what happened to the label?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On the topic of ground meat, Shoprite has stopped selling 80/20 ground beef in normal human portions.  I asked and was told, going forward 80/20 will only be available in "family packs".  The smallest family pack was 2.9 pounds.  Fond as I am of Kenji smashburgers, 2.9 pounds makes 12.  Three or four nights of smashburgers in a row I can handle, but I have my limits.

 

This is my quandary.  My question is what to do with a couple pounds of ground beef.  I could use some in mapo tofu I suppose.  I was thinking of possibly a pseudo Italian American dish of ground beef and tomatoes.  I don't have any such recipe however.  I could just brown the beef, stir in some tomatoes, sprinkle some oregano and call it a day.  I'd rather see what a real recipe looks like.  Could anyone point me in the right direction?  I have close to 500 cookbooks at my disposal, not to mention a good number more at work.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

9 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

The smallest family pack was 2.9 pounds. 

Granted, I haven't bought meat in the US for over 30 years but I never dealt with a supermarket butcher Department that wouldn't make up a smaller package for you. If that is the only way that you can get it, why not make it up in small packages and freeze it?

[weinoo]

10 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

This is my quandary.  My question is what to do with a couple pounds of ground beef.  I could use some in mapo tofu I suppose.  I was thinking of possibly a pseudo Italian American dish of ground beef and tomatoes.  I don't have any such recipe however.  I could just brown the beef, stir in some tomatoes, sprinkle some oregano and call it a day.  I'd rather see what a real recipe looks like.  Could anyone point me in the right direction?  I have close to 500 cookbooks at my disposal, not to mention a good number more at work.

 

 

I like Bugialli's (from The Fine Art...) meat sauce - though caution that he suggests snipping beef with a pair of scissors. Easily portioned and frozen once cooked.

Meatballs freeze nicely.

 

[lindag]

13 hours ago, weinoo said:

Actually, the first question is: what happened to the label?

No label.

I think what I did was vacuum it foolishly thinking it would get used soon and I would remember what it was....chuckle. chuckle.  Lord knows it's not the first time I've done this.  

The important thing is that it turned out really good; I did up the seasoning a bit.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

13 minutes ago, lindag said:

and I would remember what it was....chuckle. chuckle. 

The freezers friend! It will write on any type of plastic.

Without these, I would have a whole freezer full of mystery meat.