Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 1)

[John Braise]

I believe the "corn" in Corned Beef is derived from the use of pickling spices, which include peppercorns, in the creation of this dish.

Perhaps it should actually be called 'Corned Beef.

Lisa...where are you when we need a good food historian?

I don't know why or where I heard this, but I thought "corn" more or less referred to a small, hard chunk of something. So mustard seeds, coriander, pepper, etc were called corns. Even things like gravel, rock salt, etc could have been referred to as corns (as well as the "corns" on your feet).

So anyways, in that sense, corned beef makes more sense. It's made with whole, hard spices. Corns.

[reverendtmac]

I've heard of folks being able to press on the steak and know its doneness.  What's the trick?

First, take a glass of cold water out to the grill to dip your finger in before you poke the meat. I do this because I am a wuss.

Best way I ever heard this described was the 'face' method. Dip your finger into the water, then poke the steak. If it feels like the middle of your cheek, it's rare. If it feels like your chin (soft but with some bounce-back), it's medium. If it feels like the tip of your nose, it's well-done.

[Squeat Mungry]

The "corn" is the salt used in the brine. We still talk of "grains" of salt. Apparently when this practice became standard, the general term was "corn". Both come from the same Indo-European root, as do "kernel" and "granita", among others.

Cheers,

Squeat

[ellencho]

2) How do I effectively thicken stew gravy. I make a really flavorful boeuf bourgognone but the sauce is always runny and I can never thicken it (I have tried lots of stuff).

Same way you'd thicken gravy itself. Use a roux. Mix equal parts flour and butter (oil or crisco if you prefer) and brown in a little pan. Lighter colored rouxs give you thicker gravies and sauces.

[KHT20]

I've heard of folks being able to press on the steak and know its doneness.  What's the trick?

First, take a glass of cold water out to the grill to dip your finger in before you poke the meat. I do this because I am a wuss.

Best way I ever heard this described was the 'face' method. Dip your finger into the water, then poke the steak. If it feels like the middle of your cheek, it's rare. If it feels like your chin (soft but with some bounce-back), it's medium. If it feels like the tip of your nose, it's well-done.

I've heard the same thing about using your face for reference, but I've always used my earlobe to judge a rare steak - I find it works better since my cheek feels different every time I poke at it.

[JAZ]

I believe the "corn" in Corned Beef is derived from the use of pickling spices, which include peppercorns, in the creation of this dish.

Perhaps it should actually be called 'Corned Beef. 

Lisa...where are you when we need a good food historian?

I don't know why or where I heard this, but I thought "corn" more or less referred to a small, hard chunk of something. So mustard seeds, coriander, pepper, etc were called corns. Even things like gravel, rock salt, etc could have been referred to as corns (as well as the "corns" on your feet).

So anyways, in that sense, corned beef makes more sense. It's made with whole, hard spices. Corns.

The first answer to this question was the correct one (i.e., that it refers to the salt), so far as I know. "Corn" was the generic term for any grain; by extension it was used to refer to any small "pellet" sort of thing. So you're both correct in that part, but in the case of corn or corned beef, it's the salt it was packed in that was the "corn" in the title. Not the spices.

Which makes sense, because it was the salt that was crucial, not the spices.

But my all time favorite "answer" to this question was provided on another food board many years ago, when a poster speculated that the beef was packed in "corn juice." I love that.

[markf424]

I've heard of folks being able to press on the steak and know its doneness.  What's the trick?

First, take a glass of cold water out to the grill to dip your finger in before you poke the meat. I do this because I am a wuss.

Best way I ever heard this described was the 'face' method. Dip your finger into the water, then poke the steak. If it feels like the middle of your cheek, it's rare. If it feels like your chin (soft but with some bounce-back), it's medium. If it feels like the tip of your nose, it's well-done.

I've heard the same thing about using your face for reference, but I've always used my earlobe to judge a rare steak - I find it works better since my cheek feels different every time I poke at it.

I used the hand test when I started doing this, but now it's more experience than a comparison. The hand test tells you to touch the tips of your thumb and index finger together, without pressing, and press the pad at the base of your thumb with your other index finger. This is rare. As you move to the middle finger, you hit medium-rare, then medium, then medium-well. Well done just feels like a stone. I recommend getting used to using this method, even if you overcook a few steaks in the beginning, because it'll improve your product. I prefer it to a thermometer now.

[Marlene]

2) How do I effectively thicken stew gravy. I make a really flavorful boeuf bourgognone but the sauce is always runny and I can never thicken it (I have tried lots of stuff).

Same way you'd thicken gravy itself. Use a roux. Mix equal parts flour and butter (oil or crisco if you prefer) and brown in a little pan. Lighter colored rouxs give you thicker gravies and sauces.

A roux is equal parts butter and flour? Who knew? Apparently everyone but me

[chickenlady]

Here is my incredibly stupid idiotic question:

How do I find glutinous/sticky rice? Do I buy it at the Asian market? What does the bag say (how will I identify that it is the right stuff)? It's not the same thing as the sushi rice, is it?

I feel like a complete idiot for not being able to figure this out, but even my Vietnamese mother-in-law seems to be withholding this information.

Stupidly yours,

chickenlady

[jhlurie]

Here is my incredibly stupid idiotic question:

How do I find glutinous/sticky rice? Do I buy it at the Asian market?  What does the bag say (how will I identify that it is the right stuff)?  It's not the same thing as the sushi rice, is it?

I feel like a complete idiot for not being able to figure this out, but even my Vietnamese mother-in-law seems to be withholding this information. 

Stupidly yours,

chickenlady

Amazon.com has a source or two.

Personally I've never had to resort to that. Every Asian market in my area has it, although I'll admit on having to occasionally ask the staff which is the right kind.

It does appear to be the same thing as sushi rice, although I suppose it's possible that what the Thai, the Vietnamese, the Koreans and the Japanese call "sticky rice" may be slightly different, but similar products. I know one thing which is essential is that it's a very short grain.

[markf424]

OK, I've got one that will dwarf everyone else's questions in my stupidity:

When do you know cheese is bad (not including cheeses such as fresh feta, mozzarella, etc)? I've usually eaten it until mold forms. I've even cut mold off and continued to eat it if it tastes fine and isn't dried out. Is there something more exact than this? Am I feeding myself bad food without even knowing it?

[jhlurie]

Isn't cheese bad when it stops tasting good?

[cakewalk]

OK, I've got one that will dwarf everyone else's questions in my stupidity:

When do you know cheese is bad (not including cheeses such as fresh feta, mozzarella, etc)? I've usually eaten it until mold forms. I've even cut mold off and continued to eat it if it tastes fine and isn't dried out. Is there something more exact than this? Am I feeding myself bad food without even knowing it?

Well I'll wear the dunce's cap with you on this one (and I'm sure I'll wear it alone on several others).

I found out the other night that bad cheese will absolutely NOT stay in one's stomach. But there must be a better way to figure this out before reaching that stage, no? With most foods, if it smells bad I won't eat it. Cheese doesn't really work that way.

[Callipygos]

Okay, this just came up over on THE RESTAURANT thread:

I've been leaving my pasta water unsalted my entire life, and apparently that's the wrong thing to do.  So.

Salt in pasta cooking water.  Why?

FLAVOR!

See, here's the thing though -- I have never cooked pasta with salted water at home, and I have honestly never missed it. I am assuming most restaurants I visit do salt the water; I don't. I haven't been able to tell much difference, frankly.

I get the sense, then, that it's a matter of taste. However, I asked if this was the case elsewhere and from the reaction I got, it felt like confessing I'd been making egg salad without using eggs. Is there any chemical purpose, aside from flavor enhancement, that salt gives?

If it's just a flavor thing, hell, the sauces I make are just fine as is.

[jhlurie]

I think the idea is that boiling in the saltwater somehow gets the flavor inside the pasta as opposed to simply on top of it.

[lala]

There can be a marked difference in pasta cooked in plain vs salted water. Think of it as part of the flavor 'layering' process - it's just another componant in the dish, and you would season all componants in each dish.

Do you salt the water that you boil potatoes in? Same idea...

Or else overseason your sauce to make up for the fact that the bulk of the dish (pasta) is unseasoned...

[clothier]

My Mom always told me you salt for 2 reasons.

1) flavor

2) it raises the boiling temp of the water, and pasta tastes better and cooks faster in hotter water.

She could be wrong, but I'm not going to argue with her.

[Toasted]

I just got a new pizza stone. Do I need to do anything to it before I bake my first pizza?

[tejon]

OK - I have one. How do I roast garlic resulting in sweet, caramelized garlic? Everything I have tried, fiddling with temperatures and times, results in the same bitter garlic that I often come across in restaurants. I know there's a chemical change that turns it bitter - how do I avoid this?

[fryguy]

OK - I have one. How do I roast garlic resulting in sweet, caramelized garlic? Everything I have tried, fiddling with temperatures and times, results in the same bitter garlic that I often come across in restaurants. I know there's a chemical change that turns it bitter - how do I avoid this?

Here's how I roast garlic:

Slice the top bit of the garlic head (not clove) off. Rub all over with olive oil, sprinkle with s&p and wrap with aluminum foil. Put in a slowish oven (275-300) and wait. 45 min - 1 hour later, beautiful roasted garlic.

[Raynickben]

My Mom always told me you salt for 2 reasons.

1) flavor

2) it raises the boiling temp of the water, and pasta tastes better and cooks faster in hotter water.

She could be wrong, but I'm not going to argue with her.

I was never good at science but isn't boiling water at a constant temperature of 212 F/100 C? It can't go higher. I think.

[eatrustic]

For roasted garlic, I like to pop the cloves out of the skin (especially when needing a quantity) and I take a sheet of alu foil, fold it in two to give it some thickness and place the cloves off to one side. Then I splash a bit of extra virgin olive oil on top, a bit of dry white wine (just enough to moisten the cloves) sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper and depending what I plan to use them for a sprig of fresh thyme or rosemary.)

I then fold the foil over the garlic and crimp the edges to seal it all in and place the package on a small ovenproof tray or frying pan and bake it at 375 F. for about 20 minutes after which time I flip it over, so that the garlic does not get too brown on one side, for another 10 minutes or so. Check to see what is going on and either pull the finished product out or pop it back in for a few more minutes.

This works best with fresh garlic that has not started to sprout. Remember that if it won't squish between your fingers it is still only half cooked,

[britcook]

My Mom always told me you salt for 2 reasons.

1) flavor

2) it raises the boiling temp of the water, and pasta tastes better and cooks faster in hotter water.

She could be wrong, but I'm not going to argue with her.

I was never good at science but isn't boiling water at a constant temperature of 212 F/100 C? It can't go higher. I think.

Only if you use pure water, add a salt and it raises the boiling point (and lowers the freezing point), not that it would have much effect on the pasta.

[Brad Ballinger]

2) How do I effectively thicken stew gravy. I make a really flavorful boeuf bourgognone but the sauce is always runny and I can never thicken it (I have tried lots of stuff).

Same way you'd thicken gravy itself. Use a roux. Mix equal parts flour and butter (oil or crisco if you prefer) and brown in a little pan. Lighter colored rouxs give you thicker gravies and sauces.

A roux is equal parts butter and flour? Who knew? Apparently everyone but me

To be utterly technical, a roux is the cooked version. The uncooked version of equal parts butter and flour, uncooked, is a beurre manie.

another way to thicken the sauce in stews that doesn't resort to rouxs or slurries (or reduction, if reducing too much will make the sauce bitter), is to take out some of the vegetables (you may wish to add a few more to begin with), puree them in a blender, then add the puree back into the stew.

[Dahomechef]

Toasted, you don't need to do anything to your pizza stone before you bake on it. Although when I once lined my oven with unglazed quarry tiles, I did bake them for about 2 hours at 450 just to make sure anything left on the surface from the manufacturing process was nuked off. And don't wash it with soap and water--that's not dirt, it's patina!