I'm thinking of buying one. I love stews, brisket, corn beef. I'd like to learn to make them myself and people who actually have and use slow cookers swear by them. I just don't know anything about them.
I can go to a page like this at Yahoo Shopping and my eyes just glaze over with all the choices. I'll probably be going to one of the big-box stores this weekend (I'm off from work) and buy one and I want to be an informed consumer.
What features should I look for? How much should I spend? Are they easy to clean? What do you use yours for? What's the deal with BBQ Crock Pots?
Thanks!
That's according to this Reuters story:
A diet containing curry may help protect the aging brain, according a study of elderly Asians in which increased curry consumption was associated with better cognitive performance on standard tests.Curcumin, found in the curry spice turmeric, possesses potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
It's known that long-term users of anti-inflammatory drugs have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, although these agents can have harmful effects in the stomach, liver and kidney, limiting their use in the elderly.
Antioxidants, such as vitamin E, have been shown to protect neurons in lab experiments but have had limited success in alleviating cognitive decline in patients with mild-to-moderate dementia.
In their study, Dr. Tze-Pin Ng from National University of Singapore and colleagues compared scores on the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) for three categories of regular curry consumption in 1,010 nondemented Asians who were between 60 and 93 years old in 2003.
Most of the study subjects consumed curry at least occasionally (once every 6 months), 43 percent ate curry at least often or very often (between monthly and daily) while 16 percent said they never or rarely ate curry.
After taking into account factors that could impact test results, they found that people who consumed curry "occasionally" and "often or very often" had significantly better MMSE scores than did those who "never or rarely" consumed curry.
"Even with the low and moderate levels of curry consumption reported by the respondents, better cognitive performance was observed," Ng and colleagues report.
Mostly I just enjoy it when going to Indian restaurants. There are several decent ones in the area. I really don't know how to cook with it yet. Any suggestions on simple dishes? I especially like curried chicken or lamb and rice type things. Do they actually use yogurt in that? The restaurant menu always seems to indicate that they do.
Update 11/11: Triticale has a recipe for Curried Lentil Soup on his site.
Well, I just discovered that the bag of potatoes in the cabinet under the kitchen counter has sprung roots. All sorts of pale white ones...
Anyway, I have some questions about potatoes that I need you to answer.
1) Why do people cut the "eyes" out of them?
2) Why do potatoes seem to start turning green as soon as I get a bag of them home? Are they still safe to eat?
3) I tend to like the red potatoes best for making potato salad, and those rough brown ones for baked potatos. By the way, I find nuked baked potatoes just fine. No need to waste an hour baking them in the oven. Your thoughts?
4) Like everything else, my potato salad is rather lame; cut up boiled potatos (peeled, obviously) and mayo and some cut-up hard-boiled egg. Salt & Pepper. That's it. Time for you all to share your award winning recipes with the rest of us!
And Thanks!
I happen to like tuna fish salad. And yes, I am talking the canned stuff for making it. All right, I admit that sounds rather declasse. I further admit I wish I knew how to get those little accent thingies to show over the "e"s in that word so you knew I was referring to the french pronunciation. But I digress...
I know that most folks have their own favorite brand -- usually what they grew up with. Mine is Bumble Bee and I prefer their solid white albacore in water.
Usually I just mix it up with mayo and relish [Yes, relish, again! Just like in my egg salad. So just shoot me! --ed.] and some salt and pepper, put it on white or rye. My preferred commercial bread is Pepperidge Farm.
Sometimes I get exotic and put a few slices of tomato on it if I have one. In other news, I'm not an onion fan so maybe just a bit of powdered onion.
At work, one of my friends makes a great tuna fish salad and I finally asked him for the recipe. I don't have exact amounts so you'll have to experiment but here it is:
Tuna Fish (okay, all together now, "DUH!") and drain all the water.
Fresh lemon juice, not too much.
A spicy Dijon Mustard instead of mayo
Celery, chopped
Scallions, chopped
Onions, chopped (so I personally leave this out and use powder instead)
And that's it. Easy on juices, the mixture should be very firm and don't go crazy breaking up the canned tuna, either. It's nice to have differing sized chunks of it.
One thing I added myself are some capers and a bit of mayo.
This all makes a great sandwich (topped with lettuce and tomato) or just spread on tasty crackers.
Well, as we all know, The Single Guy Cook is a reader participation blog so now it's Your Turn to share with me and the other readers your favorite tuna fish salad recipes.
As always, Thanks!
My buddy Jeff of Gun Law News sent me an email:
My idea of cooking is throwing something in the microwave and hitting the 1-minute button.My step-son has volunteered me to compete in a bar-b-que sauce competition with his in-laws.....Being as I am a bit competitive, you should be detecting a slight panic in the typing.
There is one rule - no using bottle sauces and doctoring them.
Do you have any recipies? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Let's go, folks, help my friend win that competition!
Not that this is terribly interesting but my small rural town has been on a "boil water" alert for three (yes, THREE) weeks now because of high levels of E Coli. Well, who the heck has time to boil gallons and gallons of water. I'd rather just buy tons-of-gallons of bottled spring water.
Water is something you depend on for life itself in so many ways. You use it for drinking, brushing teeth, even my cat's water dish. I'm so weird that even though when you cook pasta or frozen vegetables the water is -- obviously -- boiling, I still prefer to use bottled spring water.
Anyway, this is just an observation I've made. Now that I've been using bottled spring water for making ice cubes, I notice the cubes are A LOT clearer. They no longer look all clouded but are now, in fact, almost (not totally, of course) crystal clear.
I just thought I'd mention that. You might want to make your ice look more "pure" when you put it out in the ice-bucket at your next gathering...
And this IS one of my favorite subjects!
It's Fall and you're inviting a bunch of guys and gals over to watch the football games or some other party type thing. Before you bring out the real food (and let's put that off until another post) you set out the crackers and cheese platter.
Now, as I've already indicated before, I'm a big fan of Keebler Town House Crackers. Maybe someone at Kellogg's will read this and even send me a couple free cases. Anyway, I like the buttery taste, and they're just firm enough to dip or spread cheeses on but not so "crunchy" that your gums are sore after a few dozen of them...
For spreads, well, I also mentioned WisPride Port Wine. I also like that soft goat cheese, Brie. In fact, it's one of my favorites. For a dip with the crackers (and the obligatory potato chips) I usually just do the sour cream and Lipton's Onion Soup mix thing. There's also a very local favorite of mine and others, Grafton Smoked Chedder Cheese. At room temperature (the ONLY temperature to serve cheese at) it's heaven on Earth.
But everybody expects that sort of stuff and the next time I entertain, it would be nice to surprise people and show that I have at least one molecule of creativity in my brain.
So; therefore; in conclusion...
Your favorites, your suggestions, please. What do YOU put out early in the evening?
1) Dipping mediums; crackers, celary stalks, chips, etc.
2) Dip substances; what's the fabulous stuff in the bowl for those crackers, etc.?
3) Favorite cheeses (soft or sliced) to put out?
4) Other "early in the party" platters?
Somehow, I have a feeling that by the time anyone finishes reading this entry and your helpful comments, they will be suffering a mad munchie stampede.
By the way, I have an ulterior motive for this post. Thanksgiving is only a month away (!) and we all go to my cousin's house each year for it. This year, I'd like to prepare a few platters of this stuff to bring.
Thanks!
Is there anyone (aside from vegetarians) who doesn't like meatloaf? My problem is that I'll make one and consume the entire thing within two days. Not a good idea for someone with Gout!
None the less, a perfect dinner for me is meatloaf, roasted halved potatos (roasted in the meatloaf juice) and just to appease my guilty conscious, some sort of vegetable.
Here's what I put in my meatloaf:
Ground Beef (well duh!). Ground chuck is fine as it generates lots of fat juice although you get some "shrinkage" from that.
Sometimes a bit of ground pork, too.
The "solids" from a can of Campbell's vegetable soup.
An egg.
A slice or two of bread, crumbled into small pieces.
Some mustard.
When it's all mixed together and in the rectangular glass cooking dish, I let it bake (foil on top) about halfway through and then add a couple strips of bacon on the top and some -- yes -- ketchup, and continue baking until done. When you take it out at the halfway point, drain some -- but not all! -- of the juices for the potatos. When done, use more of the juice for the potatos.
Needless to say, the meatloaf should still be pink inside. Overcooking it ruins it (as it does almost any meat).
You're now ready to enter heaven!
Feel free to offer your own suggestions for me (and others) to try out.
Which I was, a couple posts back, one of my other secret vices is WisPride Port Wine on Keebler Town House crackers. That, when I'm not spreading peanut butter on them. I can hear my arteries hardening now...
The Single Guy Cook should be a little easier to read, now that I've changed the css style sheet. You might have to refresh your browser or cache to see it. If the post titles are now in blue and the links are in a reddish-brown, you're there. The Single Guy Cooks is only six-days-old and I'm working on it... Admit it, though, talking about food is cool!
Secret confession time. I like to make grilled-cheese sandwiches. And sometimes, I don't use chedder slices. Sometimes, like I did last night, I buy (*gasp*) Kraft Singles American cheese slices. I like the "white" variety. Looking at the package, I just noticed that it says, "pasteurized prepared cheese product." What the hell does that mean? Is this stuff actually cheese or is it some mutant concoction from a laboratory?
By the way, grilled-cheese sandwiches MUST be fried in butter in a pan. I usually put tomato slices inside it, too. Sometimes a couple bacon slices as well (that I quickly nuked beforehand).
"I love eggs." Just like in the commercial. I like them scrambled, fried, soft- and hard-boiled. Stuffed eggs at a party? Point me to them. Around these parts, cut-up hard-boiled eggs are an ingredient in potato salad, too.
Two observations I've learned:
1) Scrambled eggs are best tasting if cooked in bacon grease, just like they do in diners.
2) Fried eggs are best when you let the butter really -- almost -- burn for a while in the pan before adding the eggs. Besides the great taste, it gives them that nice sorta brown, crispy edge to the whites.
Now, I always keep a bunch of hard-boiled eggs in the fridge for quick snacks or to make egg salad and that's the question of this post.
My egg salad is kinda lame and uninspired. I just add mayo and a bit of relish. I don't like onions so that's out. Do any of you have suggestions for making egg salad, usually for sandwiches? What's your favorite add-in ingredients?
Thanks!
Update 10/30: It seems that a lot of folks doing searches come here wanting to know how long egg salad lasts. I'm not an expert on this and I'm not sure why Google or other search engines are referring you to me but I'll offer my own uninformed opinion. I repeat: I am not a food-safety expert and the following is only what I personally do. Consult an expert if you are not sure.
Assuming you DID NOT leave the egg salad out for more than 20 minutes at room temperature when you first made it, AND you then kept it tightly sealed in the refrigerator after that, I have never had a problem with eating egg salad that is up to 48 hours old. It might even last longer than that but I'm not willing to find out just how much so. I tend to be paranoid about spoiled food and never eat ANY -- Listen to me again! -- ANY prepared food after two days. This includes sliced meat from the deli, any salads I make, left-overs of any sort, etc. By the way, I'm even more suspicious of fish dishes and limit those to 24 hours.
Also, I keep my refrigerator at about 36 degrees or so. I have one of those cheap thermometers in it and naturally it depends on which shelf you keep it on but my rule of thumb is to keep my refrigerator just above the point where ice forms in liquids (such as bottled water, milk, juices). Food safety.
Interestingly, like most salads, egg salad doesn't go bad because of the mayonnaise but rather because of the meat or other ingrediants such as the egg (in this case) or chicken, etc. Any seafood, including canned tuna -- my rule of thumb is to throw it out after 24 hours. No exceptions. I know (believe me, I know) that food is expensive but I prefer to err on the side of caution.
So, Two days max for me unless it's tuna fish (or any seafood) and then it's 24 hours. And after you make it, don't let it sit out for more than a few minutes, and keep it cold and tightly covered in the fridge!
I'm not saying that I have all the answers but since adopting these personal guidelines, I've never gotten sick from my own leftovers. I HATE stomach illnesses and this advice is what I follow myself to avoid them. I haven't been proved wrong, yet.
I was off yesterday and hanging with a friend. He set up a small charcoal grill on his deck and made us lunch, grilled chicken breasts. We made sandwiches out of them but I (while not saying anything to him) found the chicken breasts horribly dry and almost stringy.
So how DO you keep that from happening? What's the best way to grill chicken breasts so they stay moist?
Here's a good question for the weekend. Let's call this one the "What's on your spice rack?" post. I just cleaned out all the dusty old bottles of stuff I had (and rarely used) so now there's just: Salt, pepper, curry, garlic powder, onion powder, and, er, that's it. If you've read the other SSGFQ posts, you know I don't know much and like to keep dishes simple.
Excluding the above, what [up to] ten spices or herbs (or both) do you think are essential to have? What are they good for? (It can be more than ten if you like.)
Click "Continue..." to read comments from the previous posting.
It all depends on how complicated you want to get, but some basic spices that can really come in handy are:
Italian seasoning (you can make your own, but why bother?)
Cayenne pepper (gives heat to dishes without the bite of vinegar in hot sauce; not applicable if you hate spiciness, of course)
Nutmeg & cinnamon (mostly for sweet things, though cinnamon can do interesting things for savory stuff, too, add some depth; get whole nutmegs and grate them, them and black pepper are the only spices I bother to do that with, but it makes a huge difference in both cases)
Bay leaves (mostly only if you make many sauces or stews, but also add a surprising amount of richness/depth; you don't notice it until it's not there)
Herb de provence (the only semi-unusual thing on the list, but it's a great French herb mix that can do very interesting things to chicken, sauces, sandwiches, whatever)
I can't think of any more that aren't basically just getting fancy, beyond what most people use to cook (though I'm sure someone else will post something obvious that I missed).
Posted by: grsing at September 30, 2006 09:31 AM
I keep McCormicks Montreal Steak Seasoning for, well, steaks and Lemon Pepper for chicken on hand and go through them pretty quick. I also keep a grinder mixed with sea salt and dried garlic.
Herbs such as basil, rosemary, etc. I buy fresh at the store.
Posted by: Brass at September 30, 2006 09:58 AM
As has been mentioned, cayenne is a must.
If you're into salads at all, dill is imperative for home-made salad dressings; can also be used for making pickled eggs...
Tarragon is good too, either with or instead of the dill in salad dressings; it also goes well with salmon
Cumin, whole if you want to take the time to roast it a bit and grind it, or powdered if you're not that finnicky. Nothing in the world smells as good as sauteeing onions with a bit of cumin thrown in
Rosemary, if you like lamb
Sage, if you like beef and pork; goes will with roasted potatoes too
Paprika - combine with ground cumin and use as a rub for chicken; I put it on popcorn, with garlic powder and salt and pepper...
If you're going to be making stir-fry, I'd recommend a Chinese Five Spice blend.
I'd also recommend Worcestershire Sauce, and some balsamic vinegar - they are both great for marinades and just adding general flavour
Posted by: Nimrod45 at September 30, 2006 10:32 AM
Oregano is one of those basics for pasta dishes. The lazy kind where you throw it in with some butter, oregano and a can of tomato paste. ;)
Posted by: m0nkyman at September 30, 2006 12:12 PM
Oregano.
Posted by: Hank at September 30, 2006 12:13 PM
As the old rhyme goes: Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme... and some other stuff.
Basil
Chile powder, like Ancho and Chipotle. I prefer these to Cayenne for most uses, though I have that too.
Cinnamon, powder and, if you make drinks with it, sticks.
Cumin
Marjoram
Onion, dried
Oregano, both European and if you make chilli a few times a year, Mexican.
Parsley
Rosemary
Sage
Savory
Tarragon
Thyme
Mixes are convenient if you cook a lot of certain types of food, otherwise all the separate herbs are listed above:
Italian mix, typically: basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, savory, thyme.
Herbs de Provence mix: typically marjoram, rosemary, savory, thyme
Cumin and Chile powder are needed for good chilli, of course, but also separately in stews, soups and other things. Beans and lentils are nice with these.
The dried onion is great if you find you use a lot of finely diced onion for soups and stews where you do not need to see the onion. So not good for onion soup or to replace pearl onions, but if all you need is the flavor.
Tarragon is good for fish and very nice in eggs. Try scrambled eggs with the tarragon added before cooking, just keep them moist.
Cinnamon is best in stick form when making quantities of hot spiced drinks, like cider or coffee. The powder tends to gunk up a lot into a slimey mess. Gor a single mug or two, powder is fine, but never use it in the coffee maker. It will clog the filter and may overflow.
If you like mulled cider and wine, (and in winter who doesn't?), the mulling spice mix from Williams Sonoma is a good deal and way better than buying it all separately. Cheaper too.
Savory is especially nice, almost a must, with read meat stews and soups, like beef, lamb, venison.
Rosemary is good with some meats and also root vegetables when braised or stewed.
Parsley and thyme are good in many meat and veggie based meals.
Marjoram, which adds a buttery flavor to veggie dishes, especially clear mushroom soup, (no cream).
oregano and basil for mediterranian and tomato based dishes
These are all in addition to salt and black pepper of course.
Posted by: tomWright at September 30, 2006 12:43 PM
I was just reading over other suggestions.
Definitely add Bay leaf, most certainly for soups and stews. I buy it in the big jars, and use a lot. Dunno why I forgot that.
As grsing said, I have more than this, but these are the core that can get you through an awful lot of traditional Euro-American cooking.
Asian, and especially Indian cuisine, now that is another subject. A big subject. What was your PHD in again?...
Posted by: tomWright at September 30, 2006 01:01 PM
Great other comments. I have no tarragon and had wondered if I was missing out.
My original set of spices was onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, black pepper, cinnamon. And what I cooked and how kind of showed, but those are musts, unless you always use real onion for the onion flavor (you can buy some Vidalia in season, dice and freeze; a Deb's mom trick we are currently enjoying the fruits of... or roots of, as the case may be), ditto the real garlic, and if you sub your own mix of garlic/cumin/red pepper for chili powder.
Red pepper is my next biggie, and actually took the place of chili powder for me a lot of the time. I use it in almost everything.
Powdered ginger is, well, actually I think it was in my initial set. It may depend what you cook, as it is especially important if you do things like fried rice or other Chinese-style. However, I use it in almost everything, and depending how much and with what, it can either be a disinctly strong or sweet flavor of its own, or it can sit in the background as a flovor enhancer. I use it in spaghetti sauce, for instance, in a less pronounced variation of the role of cinnamon as a moderator.
So that's:
1 - black pepper (I could leave it off as it's probably an assumed thing, like salt)
2 - garlic
3 - onion
4 - red pepper
5 - ginger
6 - chili
7 - cinnamon
If I had to ditch one, probably the onion. If I had to ditch two, probably the chili.
I only own ground mustard for the sake of a particular recipe, and seldom add it to other things, but a little can provide a big, and different, kick. I used a small amount in a many-spice rub for thick prok chops a few weeks ago, as I recall, and that was one of thos impromptu "wish I had a recipe" things. Not a must, but of possible interest early in extending beyond the first, say, dozen.
Cumin is a new arrival and now that I have it I am baffled as to why I never had it before.
Savory and rosemary are favorites, and oregano has many uses, especially if you don't get a generic Italian mix. Those vary, and I have two, which I use regularly, especially one I bought cheap before I got the rack that included the other one. As has been suggested, you might go the way of buying the constituents, and then you can mix in various ways, or emphasize what you like rather than what the maker of the mix chose. Still, a good Italian mix is great if you need that sometimes and don't wish to get carried away.
I have and use paprika sometimes, having learned that not only is it good for more than deviled eggs, and not as tasteless as I always thought, but also it is just a milder form of red pepper. It's pretty optional, but more useful than I realized, and I use it periodically. It's good for imparting a reddish color without overwhelming with a hot pepper flavor.
I haven't played as much with some of the spices, like thyme, for instance.
Sometimes a mix can take the place of something you might not otherwise have on hand. Pumpkin pie spice, for instance, includes cloves.
Anyway, making it a doze, let's say:
8 - cumin
9 - savory
10 - rosemary
11 - Italian seasoning
12 - oregano
This list might change on another day. And should probably include sage, but I don't use that as much now that I use more savory and rosemary for my chicken. Sage works well with them, and is one of the major flavors you'll notice if you eat chicken Rice-a-Roni.
Posted by: Jay at September 30, 2006 10:10 PM
Just a quick digression: if you don't have one already, I'd recommend a crock pot - the *ultimate* Lazy Single Guy's kitchen utensil...
Posted by: Nimrod45 at October 1, 2006 09:13 AM
It would be really helpful if we knew what sort of food you like. Italian, Tex-Mex, Thai, Russian, Indian, English (they don't use any, other than case-lots of "Bland,"), or what (other than meat-n-'taters)? Do you like hot, sweet, tart, sour, bland, or just "whatever?" Do you prefer fried, boiled, or baked foods, or just don't care? Do your taste-buds not only not care about the difference between a $8 hi-tech coffee and a 75¢ cuppa-joe, can they not tell the difference? All these can make a big difference in what you might use the most. I have a lot of spices, but the straight spices that I think likely get used the most are (in no particular order):
Rosemary, chipotle pepper, cinnamon, ginger, basil, crushed read pepper flakes, ground cumin, sage, caraway, oregano,
For spice mixes: Cajun, Chinese 5-spice, Italian mix, chili powder, pumpkin-pie spice mix (but not for pies; for coffee), bullion, Johnny's, taco/burrito mix. Ketchup, too. I know, technically it's a condiment, but I still feel like I have to put it in here :-)
For some basic "what for" info you might want on any imaginable spice, check out http://www.penzeys.com/
Browse a cookbook; look at the ingredient list for things that look good. If you start seeing the same things come up regularly, that would be a good place to start.
Posted by: RolfN at October 2, 2006 01:33 AM
Oregano
Basil
Terragon
Paprika
Cayenne Pepper
Ground Ginger
Allspice
Cinnamon
Sage
Kosher Salt (it really tastes better)
Posted by: 3yellowdogs at October 2, 2006 11:15 AM
On second thought, if we're limiting the list to only 10 (and there's no reason to) scratch the Kosher salt (you can live with Morton's), above, and add thyme.
Posted by: 3yellowdogs at October 2, 2006 11:18 AM
Here's another pasta question. I eat a lot of pasta because it's cheap economical and I like it, either with butter or sometimes olive oil. Once in a while, a tomato sauce.
Anyway, after boiling it, I've always drained the water, and then "rinsed" the pasta briefly in clean water to get some of that scummy stuff off. Yesterday, someone told me that by doing that I was washing off all the nutritional good stuff. True? False?
While I'm on the subject, what are some of your favorite things to do with pasta, anyway? Especially quick dishes for an impatient single guy like me? BTW, I'm not into most cheese type sauces.
By the way, I don't like most commercial tomato sauces. They're too tomato-y. What the heck are most good restaurants doing to make (most of) theirs so much better, lighter, more like a compliment to, rather than a smotherer of, the flavor?
Click "Continue..." for comments to previous posting.
Washing off nutritional stuff? No idea. I always rinse briefly to keep it from sticking but I may have to rethink that now.
My favorite pasta dish is to coat with olive oil, with garlic, artichoke hearts, and shrimp (or chicken, but I prefer shrimp), plus a little garlic and maybe onion.
Posted by: Ken Summers at September 26, 2006 08:40 AM
I like my pasta with a heavy cream, butter and Parmesean sauce. It's not a cheese sauce, it's alfredo!
Also, -_- on the cheese sauce comment. Chedder sauce pwns.
Posted by: Darkside007 at September 26, 2006 09:24 AM
I am not sure what the rinsing does, but on shaped pasta packages it typically seems to say rinse for stuff like pasta salads, and don't rinse otherwise.
We sometimes have it with butter and parm cheese. Generally we alternate between jarred al fredo sauce, sometimes with chicken and brocolli, or just chicken (easy dish either way; cut chicken breast into small chunks, cook done in frying pan with as little as some garlic powder and black pepper - it can also work with a *small* amounts of other stuff like red pepper - heat the sauce from the jar, mix in chicken - and very slightly undercooked brocolli if doing that; the frozen works fine and is convenient - and mix into the pasta, which is usually penne, ziti or rotini but can be any shape), and jarred red sauce that I modify beyond recognition and add burger - or lately sausage - to.
The chicken broc al fredo is a great "any fool can toss it together and look fancy" dish to serve company. It's also great leftovers, with or without the addition of some cheese as I used to be in the habit of doing.
I used to love Prego, especially the chunky garden vegetable, but they decided to new and improve it, featuring an overwhelming pepper flavor. I prefer a sauce that already tastes good and can be built on, or one that is generic and needs to be built on. We like Francesco Rinaldi best. It's cheap and sometimes on sale for a buck a jar. Wal-Mart seems to have just started carrying it at $1.32, which we are willing to pay instead of our second choice, Wal-Mart's store brand, for $1 a jar.
Generally my sauce, whichever I start with, tastes similar each time, even though I measure nothing. I use Italian seasoning, garlic powder, maybe a touch of onion powder, black pepper, red pepper, ginger, and lately I experiment with some of the spices that are constituents of Italian seasoning. Then cinnamon as needed to lighten the flavor, depending how acidic or bitter it seems, but go light or you get sauce that tastes like cinnamon overwhelmingly. Ginger seems to help a little too as a modifier. Then sugar or brown sugar to sweeten it up or balance it if the spices seem too strong. Not a lot; generally don't need more than a heaping spoonful of white or equivalent of brown (probably a good tablespoon), and not sure I've ever had to use more than two.
Less spicing for sausage, depending on its inherent flavor. More for burger. Most oif my spice goes in the burger when I fry it up, before dumping in the sauce. Then touchup and the ones that modify the flavor and tone after the sauce is in. I tend to end up with sauce that a mild, even a little sweet, and meet that comes through with a stronger flavor. Remember that when and how you spice matters. Many things lose flavor the longer they cook. Olive oil carries spices and imbues them into the meat differently from butter. I'm actually still getting used to olive oil when I cook what we call "random chicken," which is chunks of chicken cooked in my cast iron skillet with a bit of oil or butter and various spices thrown in. Used to be more pepper/garlic. Now it's more likely to be oriented toward sage, savory or rosemary. The latter is especially good when baking a chicken or turkey. I slice little butter pockets into the skin in places and put pats of butter in them. Besides putting rosemary and whatever on the bird in general, you can embed it into the butter that you stick into the slits in the skin. But I digress.
Posted by: Jay at September 26, 2006 10:02 AM
FYI our al fredo sauce brand of choice is Classico, which also is on sale a lot and not that bad in price normally. They make acceptable red sauce too, IIRC, though not what we prefer. I think we decided we didn't like Bertolli (or another B brand?) white sauce anywhere near as much.
Posted by: Jay at September 26, 2006 10:05 AM
Jay, I've done the chicken and brocolli pasta salad myself and it's great. Even my friends say I do it pretty well. I use an Italian dressing with it but add the grated parmesan as you mentioned. It's the alfredo sauces I'm not wild about. Those are the kinds of recipes I'd love to have from others. Let's all share... (cue Barney)
Posted by: Jeff Soyer at September 26, 2006 12:18 PM
Rinsing pasta risks watering down the sauce and making it less likely to cling to the pasta. Watery sauce = bad. No nutritional issue involved. Tossing cooked pasta with a bit of olive oil helps keep it from sticking together without risking a watery sauce. When creating a pasta salad, rinsing (and draining again) also does not risk watering down the end product. Hope this helps.
Posted by: Ron at September 26, 2006 12:45 PM
Your pasta just spent several minutes in water, which you dumped down the sink. What further harm could a quick rinse do?
Cold water is less leechy than hot water -- try making tea with with cold sometime and see what I mean -- and more likely to soak into the pasta than hot because it lacks the boiling action, so I don't expect much stuff to transfer to the rinsing water at all.
Posted by: roy at September 26, 2006 01:54 PM
I don't rinse for hot pasta; rinse and chill for salads. You like soup? How about a can of Cream of Chicken soup (butter, seasonings to taste, maybe some canned chicken) stirred in. Cream of Mushroom works too, or tomato plus some beef and seasoning. Somebody once suggested clam chowder to me, but I don't like clam chowder that much. Really, just about any creamy style soup makes a good sauce, straight from the can or warmed a little. 'Course, in a pinch, there's always salt and pepper and a bunch of butter, and eat from the pot.
Posted by: Texas Jack at September 26, 2006 02:40 PM
Usually you rinse the pasta to get rid of the surface startch which will cause it to stick like a lump. But if you put a sauce on it right away you do not have to. Second reason is a friend told me it also stopped the pasta from cooking a further. I have noticed that it satys firmer when rinsed.
Sauce, I like the following because it is easy and good.
sauce pan with a bit of olive oil in bottom. Heat it up a bit on low heat then put in some parsley, sage rosemary and thyme. Yup, just like the song.
when the aroma starts to waft up then add a large can of tuttorosso tomato sauce and let heat up till just slowly boiling. I like the tuttorosso bacause it is just good stuff.
http://www.redgold.com/products/tuttorosso_main.html
I tend to use the whole and crushed tomato can.
redpack is also very good but needs a bit more seasoning than the tuttorosso
Posted by: rich at September 26, 2006 02:52 PM
From an "adopted" Italian.
Make your own sauce. Grind/chop some garlic. In
a little virgin olive oil brown it a little. Add
some tomatoe sauce, fresh chopped tomatoes, some
chopped onion. Cook till the tomatoes get soft.
Now boil your pasta till its the way you like it.
Don't rinse it. Why I don't know, butI got
yelled at when I did it! Top with parmesan and
season to suit.
You can get creative and add other stuff to the
sauce like chopped peppers or whatever you like.
Theres no rules. To go along with the pasta, cut
up fresh garlic fine, and brown it a little. Add
sliced zucchini or bell pepper or chicken breast
sliced thin coated with egg and breadcrums. fry
in some virgin olive oil with the garlic you
browned. Pretty good and easy. Enjoy, KP
P.S.(my inlaws are Italian, so I'm adopted)
Posted by: KeithP at September 26, 2006 04:47 PM
"While I'm on the subject, what are some of your favorite things to do with pasta, anyway?"
You will need:
Cooked pasta
KY jelly or similar
Crazy glue or similar
Oh wait -- these were FOOD questions?
Never mind.
Posted by: JayF at September 26, 2006 04:49 PM
Drain, don't rinse. Toss in a little olive oil to keep it from sticking together. Try plain spaghetti with soy sauce. Talk about quick. Egg noodles are good the same way.
Gerry
Posted by: Gerry N. at September 26, 2006 05:11 PM
First, no need to rinse pasta. What you've been washing off is a little starch - don't worry about it. If you want hold the pasta for a while and keep the pasta from sticking after rinsing, toss it in a colander with a little olive oil.
Two simple, delicious pasta recipies to try:
Pasta with clam sauce (for one)
Saute one garlic clove and parsley (fresh or dry) just until garlic cooks (no more than 1 minute) in a quarter cup of olive oil. As soon as garlic is cooked add juice from one 6.5 oz. can of chopped clams (reserve clams) and remove from heat.
Meanwhile, cook 4 oz of pasta until just barely done. Better here to be slightly underdone than over cooked. I like shell pasta with this dish. Drain pasta well and add to sauce. Turn heat to high and cook vigorously for 2-3 minutes or until sauce is almost completely incorporated into pasta. Stir in reserved clams from can and salt to taste. Serve immediately.
Pasta alla Ramagna
Cook 4 oz. of pasta, drain and set aside. Almost any kind works for this. I usually use linguine.
In a saute pan, cook two garlic cloves and one tsp. red pepper flakes in 1/4 cup of good olive oil. When garlic is just cooked (less than 1 minute) add pasta and toss until fully incorporated. Salt to taste. Serve immediately with good parmesan or romano cheese.
As Julia would have said, bon apetit!!
Posted by: 2yellowdogs at September 26, 2006 05:24 PM
Rinse if it's overcooked (cooling it to slam the door on further cooking) then a bit of oil.
Posted by: htom at September 26, 2006 05:24 PM
If you want to reduce the acidity of the tomato sauce, try adding a couple of dollops of milk as you are heating the sauce. You can also add some fine shredded cheeses(I use Kraft five Italian cheeses blend myself.) at the same time. Kind of like adding milk to tomato soup. The latic acid in the milk cuts down the acid from the tomato. Or add a shredded/blenderized carrot. Does the same thing
Posted by: emdfl at September 26, 2006 05:28 PM
I vote for pesto sauce which is simple to make:
2 cups packed basil leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts (pinole)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
2 tb lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil (or less if you like fewer cals.)
Put all ingredients in a food processor except the oil. Turn on machine and slowly pour the oil thru the feed tube. Put in a sealable container & store in the fridge or the freezer. Heat a portion in the microwave and toss with the cooked pasta. If the pesto seems too thick, dilute it with some water from the pasta pot. Enjoy!
Posted by: don at September 26, 2006 06:24 PM
Favorite -Pasta Salad - Elbow Macaroni cooked al dente and rinsed in cold water, mixed with chopped red onion, smoked turkey breast cut into small -1/2"- pieces , chopped seeded tomato, chopped avocado.
Dressing of red wine vinegar and olive oil in equal parts with tbsp dijohn mustard, salt, pepper, and
parsley flakes, poured over salad , then toss /stir.
Best chilled 2-3 hours in refrig.
Time consuming to make, but we make BIG batches and eat on for several days.
MMMMM Good
Posted by: Gray One at September 26, 2006 08:41 PM
The naysayer's probably confusing it with white rice, which usually has supplemental vitamins and minerals sprayed onto it before packaging. Rinsing the rice before cooking (commonly done to reduce stickiness) will wash this layer off.
Posted by: Cliff S. at September 26, 2006 10:49 PM
I don't rinse my pasta, but I use as much water as I can in which to boil in to dillute the starch as much as possible. I used to make big batches of my own tomato sauce (very chunky and tasty) and stretched it out to 4 or 5 meals, but I've cut back on carbohydrates and don't do it very often anymore.
Quick lo-carb meal: Grill a skinless chicken breast with a slice of swiss cheese melted over the top and serve with Dijon mustard and some veggies on the side.
Posted by: Socratease at September 27, 2006 01:13 AM
As mentioned already, rinsing washes off the startch, which is usually bad if you want the sauce to stick (esp if you're using oil I'd think).
I use Emeril's Kickin' Tomato sauce. Cooks Illustrated (or America's Test Kitchen) recommended it after they tested a bunch of jarred sauce. It has some heat to it, which is a nice change from the crap in the rest of the jars. It isn't too expensive either. (You just have to ignore the name on the label!)
Posted by: evening at September 27, 2006 08:26 AM
Draining and/or overcooking removes nutrients. A touch of olive oil or butter enhances results. Substitute some egg plant for some of the tomatoes for less tomatoie taste. Good luck - it beats the old C-Rats any day
Posted by: Doc Wallace at September 27, 2006 04:31 PM
My vote for Pesto too, totally yummy. There's also a Mediterranean mix of veggie stuff called a Tapenade usually with olives that can substitute. Some good delis have it pre-made in the cold-section.
What kind of pots and pans do you have? It's like guns, there are definately grades, and Revere Ware is near the bottom.
Posted by: DirtCrashr at September 27, 2006 05:01 PM
Two Words: Kraft Dinner. Mmmmm, mmmmm, good!
Seriously, though, being a Single Guy, I usually cook up a mess of pasta and put it in the fridge, so I don't have to go through the bother of cooking several smaller batches. As has been said by others, I "rinse" my pasta to cool it down to keep it from continuing to cook and turn all soft and mushy. Toss with some olive oil to keep from sticking, and you're good to go.
As for a sauce, how about some cream of mushroom soup - assuming you like mushrooms. You could thin it out a bit, depending on how thick you like your sauce.
Me, I buy whatever canned tomato sauce is on sale and then "fiddle" with it from there.
Posted by: Nimrod45 at September 27, 2006 11:47 PM
This one may be to cheesy, but I love it. I only make it once or twice a year for health reasons.
Pasta Carbonara
serves 1
1/4 pound pancetta, cut into thin strips
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 pound dried penne
1 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Heat a large saute pan, until hot. Add pancetta and saute until golden brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Season with black pepper and remove pan from heat.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs yolks. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in Parmesan, reserving 2 tablespoons for garnish.
In a large pot, boil 6 quarts of salted boiling water. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta in a colander. Do not rinse with water; you want to retain the pasta's natural starches so that the sauce will stick. While the pasta is still hot, return it back to the pot. Add the browned pancetta (including grease)and mix well. Add the egg mixture and coat the pasta completely. It's important to work quickly while the pasta is still warm so that the egg mixture will cook. Add remaining Parmesan and chopped parsley.
Here's another that is a bit spicy. You can top it with chicken or shrimp, or just use it as a side dish.
Spicy Pasta with Garlic and Red Pepper Flakes
1 pound dried spaghetti
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, plus more if desired
1/4 cup chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
In a large pot, bring to a boil 6 quarts of salted water. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain pasta in a colander, reserving 2 tablespoons of the pasta water. The reserved pasta water will help create the sauce. Do not rinse pasta with water -- you want to retain the pasta's natural starches so that the sauce will stick.
In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until light brown and fragrant. It's important not too burn the garlic or else it will become bitter. Remove and discard the browned garlic. Add the red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute. Carefully add the reserved pasta water and stir to combine. Place the spaghetti into the pan and mix well for 1 minute.
Remove pan from heat and top with fresh herbs
Posted by: Brass at September 29, 2006 10:43 AM
I really am thankful that so many of you have readily answered my previous questions and here's another for you. It's interesting that these have become my most popular posts when judged by comments! It's great that you all are willing to share your food and cooking knowledge with us beginners.
Believe it or not I actually do have a small "spice rack" in my kitchen where I keep a few favorites. Naturally I have salt, which I buy by the railroad car. Ground pepper is there. I really should buy whole pepper-corns and a pepper grinder but I'm so lame...
Again, this question revolves around how long I can keep these things around after I open them. Yes, salt lasts forever and beyond. Assuming that I keep the lids tight on opened bottles of other things, what are the shelf-lives of the following:
1) Ground pepper
2) Cinnamon
3) Paprika
4) Garlic & onion Powder
5) Curry Powder (and also a bottle of Turmeric)
6) Commercial blends such as (what I have:) Morton's Nature's Seasons, Lawry's Seasoned Salt, Mrs. Dash Original Blend which have ground-up leaf like stuff in them.
I also have a few of what I call "live spices" in the fridge:
7) A bottle of capers and a jar of minced garlic. Both opened as above but lid on tight and, again, in the fridge.
The only smart thing I do in life is to date when I get stuff or open it. I just need to know when to throw it the heck out so it doesn't poison me.
Thanks!
BTW, I'm thinking of starting a seperate blog for all these SSGFQs. I'll incorporate these posts into it. There are so many clueless guys like me out there that I think everyone could benefit by your answers.
And, by Golly, now I have!
Click "Continue..." for comments to previous posting.
Most spices only lose intensity and don't actually go bad. I have a jar of capers that's five years old and they seem to be fine. Atleast thay haven't harmed me (much.) Minced garlic, I dunno, I use whole garlic because it's so easy and cheap. I take 1/2 tsp of cinnamon every day to help with blood pressure control so that one rotates failry regularly in my pantry. Other than that I buy spices as I need them. Whole spices keep longer than ground and almost always are cheaper and just as easy to use. Get a cheap stone mortar and pestle. When spices seem to tase weak, I dump 'em. Except saffron, that's far too expensive to toss.
Posted by: Gerry N. at September 19, 2006 11:33 AM
Cutting salt back to nearly nothing is a good move. There is more than plenty in most food without adding any.
Cutting free salt and dropping carbonated beverages will do a lot for any diet. The High Fructose Corn Syrup is the villian in most diets.
The soft drink folks switched from cane sugar to HFCS in the 70s and folks have been getting fatter and unhealthier ever since.
Posted by: Robert at September 19, 2006 12:28 PM
Ground pepper: Don't bother. Get a $3 pepper grinder.
Garlic powder: I've been working on the same family-size shaker since 1998. Still reasonably garlicy.
Posted by: roy at September 19, 2006 01:07 PM
Robert: People weren't getting fatter and unhealthier before then? Changes in lifestyle have no significant effect? It's all the fault of corn syrup?
Come on, man. As compelling as a single cause for all our woes is, I don't think it's supportable. The non-corn-syrup calories in pre-syrup (or non-US current) Coke are quite capable of making someone plenty tubby. Increased sitting-on-our-collective-asses because of social and technological factors is almost certainly the more significant culprit.
Jeff: As everyone's been saying, dry spices and herbs won't go bad, they'll just lose flavour (and things like garlic salt don't seem to do even that, very much). As long as you're okay with that, don't worry.
Posted by: Sigivald at September 19, 2006 01:12 PM
Wouldn't worry about spices killing anybody ('cept maybe in cases of allergies). It's protiens that you have to worry about. In the case of minced garlic, the presence of mold would be a good tip-off. Even then, it would probably be harmless. Might not be too palatable tho'.
Posted by: Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner at September 19, 2006 01:17 PM
As above, whole spices last longer. I generally toss them when there is a noticible change or lessening of scent, or any discoloration or I forget when I got them. Buy in small quantities, unless you use a particular one a lot, like black pepper.
The more delicate spices buy and use as soon as you can, so plan a few meals with them.
Cinnamon, paprika, curry, garam masala and similar spices are surprisingly delicate and tend to lose a lot of flavor very fast.
Dried herbs tend to be good so long as they are kept dry. Very dry. (be reasonable, over two years is stretching it)
Get a spice grinder that you use only for spices, at the very least for black pepper. A hand mill with a crank handle is very useful. Most catalogs have them.
A blade grinder is good for softer spices, like dried chile peppers, but a burr grinder, (AKA: Mill), is needed for black pepper and other hard spices.
Blade grinders are a little as $20, burr grinders are as little as $40, but can go way up. Some manual burr grinders are less expensive, like the black pepper hand mills, which are very much worth the price.
For spices, inexpensive grinders and mills will do, Do not buy used since you do not know what went through them.
I avoid mixes unless they for something specific, like mulling spices or chili mix, when I do not want to take the time to grind/mix my own.
I did a post on making chili, with pictures, using a mix, quite a while ago, that is still up.
Posted by: tomWright at September 19, 2006 07:27 PM
It looks like everyone has covered most of it.
Toss the ground (aachhhoo) pepper and get a pepper mill by Wm. Bounds LLC. Stainless steel, coarse, med. & fine with a ceramic grinder. ~$15 at Linens & Things.
Use the little cheap grinders for rosemary on your sliced roast potatoes (Sweet basil on other side) Spray olive all over them first. Enjoy!
Posted by: Dennis at September 19, 2006 08:15 PM
Skip the garlic powder and prepared garlic in a jar; a Zyliss SUSI garlic press will set you back ten or fifteen dollars and work forever. You'll get better taste, too.
We have a pair of little Krups coffee grinders (they are like tiny food processors, with a whrilling blade), one that we use for pepper (and other spices) and the other for coffee.
Curry is really more of a process than an ingredient.
Posted by: htom at September 19, 2006 09:33 PM
We have three pepper mills on the counter. One contains mixed peppercorns, one contains black peppercorns, and the big one which we refill twice a year contains cracked black pepper and dried minced garlic.
Garlic gooshers, even the name brand mentioned above, can always be found in the $.49 kitchen implement bin at Goodwill because most people don't appreciate them, Ceramic microwave garlic roasters, probably never used, run a couple of bucks. The combination will obviously pay for itself in nothing flat.
Posted by: triticale at September 19, 2006 10:26 PM
I just thought I'd back up what most everyone else already said.
Dry spices will keep basically forever. They will slowly lose about 20% of thier flavor in the first year after they are opened. In the next three years they will lose about 10% more, after which they will pretty much stabilize.
How do I know? I only go camping every few years, and the spices stored in my pack follow that pattern.
On a related note, I never could see the use of paprika for anything but coloring. It pretty much is a virtually tasteless red powder when you first open up the can, and it is still tasteless 10 years on.
Fresh paprika has a biting, peppery taste. Why the pre-ground stuff bought in the store is nothing more than pretty dust is a mystery to me.
James
Posted by: James R. Rummel at September 20, 2006 04:50 AM
Fresh garlic is best... get a decent press.
Oregano, onion salt, crushed red pepper, and a few others I find to be fairly useful. Don't overlook things like hot sesame oil, soy sauce - the light kind has much less salt - and other sauces or marinades. Cutting back on salt is easier if you have other flavors to take its place. Cooking with various kinds of hot peppers works too.
Posted by: Zendo Deb at September 20, 2006 05:20 AM
On the garlic press, consider the Wusthof -- I have one (distributed as "Henckels" way back when) that has lasted decades. The two different sized screens (removable for cleaning) come in handy. Pasting the link would be a waste so go to amazon.com and search for "Wusthof Garlic Press". Not real cheap, but I'll buy a good tool once rather than a cheap one (grocery store presses - *spit*) many times.
I guess if you're cutting back on salt, soy is out. I use lots of that (by the gallon can) along with balsamic vinegar and CHEAP dry red wine (never buy cooking wine) for marinade. My wife also uses citrus juice (unsweetened) in marinade. Whatever.
I could go on about the Mrs.' salt-free Cajun spice recipe, but I'll shut up now...
P.
Posted by: Peet at September 20, 2006 09:25 AM
There are two kinds of paprika pepper, sweet and hot (sometimes called sharp.) Most of the paprika sold in the USA is sweet, it has a slight amount of heat if it's fresh, a little bit more than a bell pepper. For hot, look in a big grocery store for "Pride of Szegeo" Hungarian Hot Paprika, in a mostly red can. A five ounce can lasts me about a year. (They also package, in a mostly white can, a sweet or half-sharp paprika.) There's also a smoked paprika, but I've never used it.
Posted by: htom at September 20, 2006 11:14 AM
Here's a link to the Table of Condiments that Periodically Go Bad: http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/www/Info/condiments.html
Posted by: technococcus at September 20, 2006 12:26 PM
Before Thanksgiving, I toss all the leftover spices from the year before and buy fresh. That way, my holiday cooking tastes better, and I don't have to wonder about how many years old that sage is.
Posted by: Ted at September 20, 2006 01:01 PM
Spokesmanreview.com
Spice up dishes with dash of shelf care
Lorie Hutson
Staff writer
September 20, 2006
A new McCormick advertisement had my mom digging through her spice cupboard recently.
What did she find? A dozen tins and bottles that are at least 15 years old, according to McCormick.
Except for black pepper, McCormick spices in rectangular tins had to have been purchased in 1991 or earlier, according to the spice maker. And spices in glass bottles with Baltimore, Md., on the label are also at least that old.
I'm willing to bet that she's not the only one with a bunch of deteriorating spices in the cupboard. McCormick's advice: T.O.S.S. them. That's Toss Old Spices Seasonally.
Advertisement
Other spice experts agree. If the spices no longer smell or taste like anything, they aren't doing much to enhance the flavor of your annual pumpkin pie. (Sorry, Mom.)
Here's a guide to the shelf life of spices from McCormick, if they're kept tightly sealed away from heat, moisture and direct sunlight.
Ground spices: 2-3 years
Whole spices: 3-4 years
Seasoning blends: 1-2 years
Herbs: 1-2 years
Extracts: 4 years, except pure vanilla which lasts indefinitely.
Newer spices have a "best by" date printed on them, but many older McCormick spices have a date code printed on the bottle. There's a decoder at www.mccormick.com along with more tips for checking the age of old spices.
Posted by: jg at September 20, 2006 01:04 PM
Jeff:
On the ground pepper vs. whole peppercorns thing, McCormick gives a truly simple solution: Disposable pepper grinders.
They've given them the curious appellation, "Grinders" (hmm, how'd they come up with that?). They're available in simple black pepper, and in different pepper mixers.
My wife and I first started using them when camping, and then just decided to set the big pepper mills in the back corner of the cupboard, and use these exclusively. No worries about it going stale, since you use it up fast enough. The only drawback I can see is that you can't vary the coarseness of the grind...they're mostly plastic, and not adjustable.
Posted by: Blackwing1 at September 20, 2006 01:22 PM
If you have a costco in the area they sell salt and peper grinders that are filled with sea salt or balck pepercorns. About $7.00 each for a large size. They can grind fine or coarse depending on the direction one turns it.
Posted by: Rich at September 20, 2006 03:27 PM
Curry powder is a blend of spices: cardamom, turmeric (yellow), coriander, cumin, etc.
Pepper should be ground fresh, pre-ground stuff is like petrified. It won't kill you but it's dull and the aromatic oils that give it life have long since fled.
Having said that I don't care much about Paprika, my can is over a year old. It's mostly a color-garnish.
Ditto on the Costco pepper/salt-grinders.
Some people with thyroid issues, need iodized-salt in their diet for the iodine in it. I've also read that it has nothing to do with heart-disease or blood-pressure - that that's an old scare-study and not the current thinking. But I'm not an MD or a pathologist so...
Posted by: DirtCrashr at September 21, 2006 01:47 PM
Salt does affect blood pressure in those that are salt sensitive, which is a large minority of those with high blood pressure. Since it is fairly easy to avoid salt if you start using spices and flavorings, it is a general good idea for those with high blood pressure to avoid salt. It is easier than testing to find out if you are salt sensitive or not.
Sauteeing veggies in olive oil and garlic is my favorite way to avoid salting them. Greens like spinach, brussel sprouts, chopped up, brocolli and others are really nice this way.
Chili can be made without salt, just add extra mild chilli to build up the base flavour.
Posted by: tomWright at September 22, 2006 07:37 AM
I own a total of three cookbooks:
1. The Margaret Rudkin "Pepperidge Farm Cookbook" (1963)
2. "meat" by The Lobel Brothers (1971)
3. "The Good Housekeeping Cook Book" (1944)
The used bookstore in town here has a huge selection. Any other titles you would recommend? I like my food simple and relatively quick but I don't mind waiting for a roast to roast... I'm pretty much a meat-and-potatoes guy.
Click "Continue..." for comments to previous posting.
This is going to sound trite, but a good used book store should have the old fashioned, red and white covered Betty Crocker Cookbook. It has hundreds of easy, conventional recipes and is the one my brother sent home from college to borrow from my mom.
He cooked his way through his master's degree, never having to do any housework or buy groceries in the house he shared with other grad students...simply because he could cook. We have two of them and my son and both daughters cook with them all the time.
Posted by: threecollie at September 15, 2006 07:04 AM
"The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book" is the best cookbook ever. It is the only one I use and I cook everything from scratch all of the time.
It has easy recipes, as well as some more complex ones. It also has sections that explain things about cooking, so you can learn the skills. And it has sections that explain the different foods.
Another great feature is that it comes in a loose-leaf binder format that is tabbed according to category, such as breads, meats, etc. I find that convenient.
Posted by: charity at September 15, 2006 08:05 AM
An old one, came out in the 1980s, still seen in used book stores and available on Amazon: The New American Cuisine, by Metrolpolitan Home. Has excellent dishes including basics, with instructions that work. The sections on Feasting and Comfort Foods contain great instructions for everything from French Toast to Rib Roast.
And once you can do the basics: roast a chicken or a chuck roast, bake a potato, make a salad, steam veggies, whip up homemade biscuits and an omelet, there is no limit to your culinary adventures.
Posted by: Austin Mike at September 15, 2006 09:03 AM
"The New Basics Cookbook" by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins is really good. Easy to prepare stuff and explains the hows and whys too.
A great book is "On Food and Cooking" by McKee. It's not a cookbook, but an explanation of the science of how food cooks. Understanding things like "browning reaction" and why boiled broccoli is sweeter than steamed has helped me become a better cook.
Posted by: John at September 15, 2006 09:38 AM
A must have for the single guy is:
"Joy of Cooking" by Rombauer.
It is available in both paperback and hard cover and of the twenty+ cookbooks around here is the most used. One Christmas I gave copies to all the women in the family and now when there is a question about a recipe we can all reference the same book.
Posted by: Walt at September 15, 2006 11:12 AM
If you live alone (or with just one other person), I recommend "Going Solo in the Kitchen" by Jane Doerfer. I use mine all the time.
it's also helpful to have at least one of the hugacious cookbooks that cover everything - either Joy of Cooking, or The Settlement Cookbook (which I personally like because my mom used it and it also has "ethnic" recipes in the older editions) or How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittmann (which I actually don't use all that much but which is good for looking things up in it.)
I dunno. I probably own too many cookbooks but I also love the old Farm Journal cookbooks that came out in the 60s. They have wonderful lurid color plates of the food in them, showing 60s food-styling at its best. And most of the recipes I've tried have been good, even if there are a few "wtf?" recipes in the books (green beans and pineapple, anyone?)
If I could only have two cookbooks though it would probably be "Going Solo..." and Joy of Cooking or something like that.
I don't own the highly-praised Better Homes and Gardens book, but I know my mom has and uses a copy.
Posted by: ricki at September 15, 2006 11:44 AM
Really depends on what you want to cook.
Martha Rose Shulman's "Light Basics Cookbook" is what I recommend as a general first cookbook. She's written a number of vegetarian and other focused cookbooks; "Mediterranean Light" and "Great Breads" are especially good. Almost any of her books should be available in a big used bookstore (Light Basics is usually filed with spiral bound cookbooks.)
A massive cookbook that I use frequently is from Cook's Illustrated, "The New Best Recipe". There's now an even larger collection that I haven't used, "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook", and in pre-press, "The Best 30-minute Recipe".
If you want get into bread, I recommend that you start with Beth Hensperger's "Bread Made Easy" or "Beth's Basic Bread Book" , then Bernard Clayton's "New Complete Book of Breads, Revised and Expanded", and then, if you want sourdough, Nancy Silverton's "Breads from the La Brea Bakery", ... and then Peter Reinhart's "The Breadbaker's Apprentice".
Posted by: htom at September 15, 2006 12:47 PM
I was going to say the old Betty Crocker, but I see that someone beat me to it. Here's a second vote - good, solid cooking. A base for further exploration, if you will.
My second tip is the old James Beard cookbook. This is the one I use anytime I'm looking for a different way to cook a chunk of animal flesh.
Mmmmmm.
Here's a link to the 3rd edition.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1569245347?v=glance
Posted by: bud at September 15, 2006 01:16 PM
I found some very useful recipes in a book by chef Mark Strausman, The Campagna Table - including how to make osso bucco (page 190).
One traditional, *key* element in oven-cooking meat is preparing a dice of: carrots, celery, and onion - you sautee that down or "melt" it, then dump in the stewed tomatos, a half bottle of wine, the braised meat (seals in the flavor) and let 'er rip! :-)
Posted by: DirtCrashr at September 15, 2006 01:35 PM
And no matter what cookbook you use or recipe you are preparing there is almost no dish (main course) that does not benefit from the use of Salad Supreme. If you only stock one spice or flavoring that should be the one. Fresh garlic runs it a close second, but is a totally different direction in flavor.
Posted by: straightarrow at September 15, 2006 01:44 PM
One more suggestion (well, technically several more): The Four Ingredient Cookbook There are several variants and sequels but it's a little thing made out of 3x5 cards bound with a pair of rings. All of the recipies are approximately four ingredients, as promised. There are some recipes we use out of there in preference to all others, including the chicken noodle soup and lasagne.
Posted by: KCSteve at September 15, 2006 02:23 PM
I would add to the above reccomendations that you try to find a 'Joy of Cooking' from 1975. It was reprinted for quite a while and should be readily available from used book stores. There is a new version (75th anniversary ed) based on the writing and format of the 1975 edition, this might be good, I haven't seen it yet. I would not bother with the 8th edition published in 1997.
Posted by: Peter Theune at September 15, 2006 02:41 PM
six ingredients or less: cooking light & healthy.
by carlean johnson.
Posted by: chucky at September 15, 2006 03:17 PM
Yet again, "Joy of Cooking" by Rombauer. The older, the better. The original is famous for starting a recipe for lupin with "First, catch a rabbit..." and was readable in its own right, not just as a cookbook. More recent editions seem to have gone more to the traditional recipe-only format - but have an advantage in that they can be gotten in CD format.
Posted by: teqjack at September 15, 2006 03:30 PM
It's long out of print and hard to find, but "Wolf in Chef's Clothing" circa 1950 is excellent. All the recipes are in cartoon picture format for we Neanderthals. Not at all healthy, either -- some of the recipes use lard, for god's sake. But oh so tasty.
Posted by: David at September 15, 2006 03:51 PM
D'oh! It's been reprinted and is on Amazon!
Posted by: David at September 15, 2006 03:54 PM
"Cutting Up In The Kitchen" by Merle Ellis. Out of print, but a friend of mine bought a copy on Amazon for seventy five cents. Read it and you will know more than what most "journeyman meatcutters" these days know.
Posted by: Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner at September 15, 2006 06:14 PM
Jeff, I agree with most of the comments written above. When in college I hit the used book stores for Betty Crocker & Fanny Farmer books and decided that I really liked the 1940s and 50s books. They didn't assume that the reader was an idiot and had plenty of basic information to help the novice. They also taught cooking from scratch. I'm still pretty bad at making yeast bread but everything else can be fun: in some respects it reminds me of handloading. Start with a basic recipe, pay attention and then adjust ingredients if needed. I also have some 19th Century cookbooks: no refrigeration, no temperature control, mostly no components that weren't fresh. Learn how the pioneer families cooked on the wagon trains and on the frontier... The WW2 cookbooks are also informative in re dealing with shortages and substitutions. One book has a whole section on cooking game. The author admitted she hadn't planned on including it (snobishness?) but her editor reminded her that even .22 rifles could put a lot of meat on the table and the US has an awful lot of .22 rifles.
Posted by: S70 at September 15, 2006 07:10 PM
Many good suggestions above, hers's my two-bucks worth:
As a general reference, Julia Childs "The Way To Cook" is good for ideas and techniques. THe section of bread is the best I have seen. THe hard cover was pricey when new, but a used copy or paperback should be affordable.
Jacques Pepin "Fast Food My Way" has quite a few recipes that go along with his PBS show. Simple, quick and good. The lamb and white bean stew is really nice, and simple.
In addition, get a subscription to the Americas Test Kitchen website. They post the stuff from the current season of the PBS show in public for free, but previous seasons and additional content is by subscription. In addition they post the articles from Cooks Illustrated, a worthy magazine for real-people cooks, as opposed to poser-courmets.
www.americastestkitchen.com
Posted by: tomWright at September 15, 2006 07:17 PM
Jeff, a comment/question: why do you put yourself down by implying that your questions are stupid or that you are stupid for asking them? The real dummies are the folks who don't ask questions. Post a query about cast iron cookware or pressure cookers or even gas vs. electric ranges and you will see that folks love to share their experiences and knowledge.
Posted by: S70 at September 15, 2006 07:18 PM
If you want to learn how to cook and why it works, I recommend the 2 cookbooks by Alton Brown of FoodTV Good Eats fames. "I'm Just Here for the Food" and "I'm Just Here for More Food".
You may have trouble finding them used, but I bought them off Amazon and they are the ONLY cookbooks they I have read from cover to cover.
The first book covers basic stovetop cooking skills and recipes: frying, sauteing, etc.
The second cover baking.
He groups the recipes by similarities in cooking style rather than food types. Cheesecakes are with the custards, carrot cake is with the muffins.
Great books! But don't waste your money on the accessory books which are blank journals that you can write your own recipes in. Just the 2 cookbooks.
JRD
Posted by: jrd at September 15, 2006 09:14 PM
I also must agree with the previous posters about Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks. My father had a lot of different cookbooks, and some of the more interesting were published by Mennonites or other church groups - lots of traditional "family" style foods made with common ingredients. If you can find them in your area, they are well worth a look.
Posted by: Jeffro at September 15, 2006 10:05 PM
Fannie Farmer. Virtually an encyclopedia of cooking: All the basic recipies, techniques, ingredients, tools, etc. It's been the first one I turn to for 30 years.
Posted by: Socratease at September 15, 2006 11:35 PM
Jeff,
If you're willing (you don't know me from Adam after all) to send me a snail-mail addy, I can send you a CD of "Joy of Cooking" we aren't using. I don't think it really measures up to the old print editions, but what the hey -- it's a freebie...
The Mrs. and I have a print edition from the 70s (when we got married)and the general discussions in the chapter heads are the best part.
Also check church bazaars and the like for "homemade" cookbooks - there're some real gems in them...
Peet (pdefriesse {at} yahoo . com)
Posted by: Peet at September 16, 2006 07:18 AM
I'll second the BH&G New Cook Book, it's what my family sent me to grad school with. Not on a par with the 50's "this is how to make absolutely anything" books, but excellent for a single guy who needs to eat.
For fancier stuff, I heartily recommend the Steak Lover's Cookbook by William Rice, but my one regret is I have only made a handful of recipes from it.
Other than that, my wife and I both love the TV show Good Eats by Alton Brown; we have never tried a recipe from him that we haven't loved. His mixture of cooking and food science, with oddball visual aids, appeals to the physicist in me as well.
- Mike
Posted by: Dr_Mike at September 16, 2006 10:43 AM
I have about a dozen cookbooks, but if I could only have one, it would be the Joy of Cooking.
Posted by: don at September 16, 2006 04:29 PM
Note that the comb-bound "home-made" fundraiser cookbooks are simply collections of recipes. Every one has a few winners and pineapple jello salad. Flip thru them at the thrift store and get them if something catches your eye. The blogosphere Carnival of Recipes in which I participate is sort of similar only it doesn't take up shelf space.
I would concur on the recommendation of older cookbooks, and would suggest also watching out for ones by de Gouy and by Carmelita Pope as well as older editions of the Joy of Cooking and the others recommended above. If by any chance you happen upon "The Alice's Restaurant Cookbook" it could inspire you to become much more comfortable in the kitchen. We have a couple hundred cookbooks out on the shelves, and my wee wifey has half a million in Mastercook format on CD-ROM via her mailing lists, but when I want ideas on how to prepare something I turn to the classics first.
Posted by: triticale at September 16, 2006 07:34 PM
With over a hundred cook-books on the rack in my kitchen, I'd say the three that get used the most that haven't alread been mentioned, and might appeal to you, are "Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: Feasting with Your Slow Cooker" by Dawn J Ranck, the "New York Times Cookbook" by Craig Claiborne, and "James Beard's American Cookery." Between the three there are over 2000 pages of great stuff, with lots of recipies for almost everything imaginable (with a lot of them being pretty simple), they are easy to follow, and the latter is fun to read, too. The Williams-Sonoma Collection of cookbooks are pretty good, though they do not tend toward the easy to prepare stuff, though if you want to get into baking, their "breads" book has some really killer, and simple, things, like their carraway rye bread.
Happy Cooking.
Posted by: RolfN at September 17, 2006 12:47 AM
As for the ending to the previous post, be advised that cooking is art but baking is science. Don't start thinking about the transition until you are comfortable in the kitchen.
Posted by: triticale at September 17, 2006 06:24 PM
Some can cook. Some can't. I'm one of the ones
that can't. I got a Betty Crocker cookbook too.
No help. Don't beat yourself up if your cooking
is not up to par. If your gonna get serious about
it, make sure to keep a good fire extinguisher
handy, that's important. If you get nice pots &
pans you will at least look like you know what
your doing. Good luck, Keith
Posted by: KeithP at September 18, 2006 07:38 PM
Just some things I've always wondered about:
1) Why are cooked cornbeef, pastrami, and ham still red, or "red-ish"?
2) Why is lox (you know, that Jewish favorite of mine, Nova Scotia smoked salmon) red-pink? Is it cooked or really just sushi in disguise?
3) What the hell is deli sliced turkey made out of? It sure isn't turkey! Doesn't taste like it, it's slimy, it isn't even shaped like any turkey breast I've ever seen. I hate sliced turkey from delis.
4) Am I supposed to be keeping vegetables like tomatoes, peaches, etc., in the refrigerator? Which ones shouldn't I refrigerate? Seems like they go bad really quick no matter what I do.
Click "Continue..." for comments from previous posting.
disclaimer: i don't cook, even as much as you do. that said...
(1) and (2), unless i'm badly misinformed, are down to food colorings. i say this because uncooked pork shouldn't be particularly red to begin with, it's the original "other white meat" after all. salmon -- at least some species of -- should be reddish, and this color does survive light smoking at least, but in the case of most salmon species and most preparation methods, i'd be surprised if the shading wasn't being "helped along" quite a bit.
(3): i don't know either, but i suspect that this stuff is to turkey as spam is to real meat. IOW, i wouldn't eat it...
(4): i keep my veggies in the 'fridge, because they do seem to keep longer there. the result, of course, is i forget i've got 'em, and they go bad anyway, just after a longer while. your call, i guess.
Posted by: Nomen Nescio at September 13, 2006 08:16 AM
First comment nails it. Additional info: Peaches and tomatoes (and pears) are picked and shipped unripened, and can be brought to tender sweetness by placing them in a closed paper bag in the dark (say a kitchen cabinet) for a day or so after bringing them home from the store. Refrigeration then keeps them from rotting longer than leaving them out. And don't forget they are hidden in the cabinet or liquefaction will occur. Ugh.
Also, cucumbers left way too long in the veggie crisper are perhaps the most disgusting vegetable, although I am willing to consider other nominees. Or is this thread hijacking?
Posted by: Austin Mike at September 13, 2006 09:12 AM
Additions and small disagreements.
1) Food coloring helps, I suspect, but for most preserved meats it's the preservative (sodium nitrate in particular, if I recall correctly). Sometimes spices, if they are used.
2) Depends on the species of salmon for original color, but as I understand the processes, lox is a cold smoke that doesn't change the color much. Oddly though, I've never had a "red" lox, I guess it's the species. (But yeah, the commercial ones probably "help" the color.)
3) Yeah, probably chopped up and processed and preserved, but I hear that "parts is parts"
4) What they said, but ALWAYS make sure they are ripe before refrigerating.
Two exceptions to refrigeration (that I know of, may be more):
Never ever put bananas in the fridge, it accelerates the blackening.
And one I just heard recently: Don't refrigerate watermelons, at least while they are uncut. Apparently, room temperature helps develop and retain the color and flavor. That starts to degrade once they have been chilled.
Posted by: Ken Summers at September 13, 2006 09:30 AM
1. Because they are actually smoked at very low temperatures. So they aren't really cooked. But the smoking process preserves the meat by creating a pellical, or shell of sorts.
2. Pretty much the same answer as number one only even colder. Smoke is produced in one chamber and cooled down before it gets to the chamber the fish is in. The fish is kept at a cool temperature, below that which bacteria prefer, usually 40 farenheit. So, I suppose you could say it's like sashimi. Sushi may or may not contain raw fish. Sushi actually means sticky rice. Raw fish is sashimi.
3. "Deli" sliced turkey is a highly processed, deboned turkey breast that has been tightly bound and cooked and simply sliced on a rotary blade slicer. I think of it as protein sandwich filler and nothing more.
4. I don't like pears, so I can't really say. Peaches do fine in the fridge so long as you don't leave them in plastic bags, which concentrate and trap the ethylene gas which hastens their ripening and hence, their overripening and rotting. Tomatoes should NEVER be refrigerated. NEVER. Tomatoes contain a plant hormone that gives them their unique flavor, but once the temperature falls below 55 farenheit, that flavor hormone shuts off like a circuit breaker, and the tomato becomes a flavorless piece of vegetation. Tomatoes also are subject to quick rotting by being exposed to excess ethylene gas, which they produce and other fruits produce, such as apples and bananas. Store them in a cool place, well spaced apart and away from other fruits.
Posted by: Will Coffman at September 13, 2006 09:52 AM
If you seriously want to learn about the science of food, the most entertaining, (yes, I really mean entertaining) show on television is "Good Eats" produced by Alton Brown. A good old Southern Boy from Marietta, Georgia. He specializes in explaining why food does what it does. He explains the science and microbiology of food and what cooking does to it. And he does it in fun and entertaining ways. It's a freakin' comedy show that teaches you about food. But you have to have the Food Network on satellite or cable.
I hope to one day buy the entire collection of DVDs, the show is that worth it.
Posted by: Will Coffman at September 13, 2006 10:05 AM
Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park NY, Alumni 1993
Answers to your Questions:
Q: Why are cooked cornbeef, pastrami, and ham still red, or "red-ish"?
A: They are preserved with nitrates, which keeps the red color. Food coloring doesn’t enter into it.
Q: Why is lox (you know, that Jewish favorite of mine, Nova Scotia smoked salmon) red-pink? Is it cooked or really just sushi in disguise?
A: It is not cooked with heat, but it is preserved with smoke. Salmon maintains that color naturally.
Q: What the hell is deli sliced turkey made out of? It sure isn't turkey! Doesn't taste like it, it's slimy, it isn't even shaped like any turkey breast I've ever seen. I hate sliced turkey from delis.
A: The meat is in fact 100% turkey. It is not solid muscle however; it is multiple cuts pressed together with water added into a sliceable shape. You can get no water added solid turkey breast in good deli’s , just ask the deli person they will help you.
Q: Am I supposed to be keeping vegatables like tomatoes, peaches, etc., in the refrigerator? Which ones shouldn't I refrigerate? Seems like they go bad really quick no matter what I do.
A: Short answer, fruits and veggies don’t require refrigeration. In fact some tropical fruits/ veggies are ruined by it, bananas for example turn black under refrigeration.
It depends on how you like your fruit/ veggies. Most any fruit/ veggie last longer under refrigeration it slows the decomposition process. Remember ripening is basically controlled decomposition. My wife enjoys hand fruit (apples, peaches, plums, pears, etc) at room temp, I like the same to be cold, personal preference.
Posted by: 1894C at September 13, 2006 12:07 PM
Nomen: Spam is processed pork, so has nothing to do with red meat.
Jeff: Deli turkey of the sort mentioned (though if it's "slimy" and doesn't taste like turkey, you need to find a better deli or buy a better brand, if you're getting pre-sliced, pre-packaged) is typically pressed turkey. That is, small bits of turkey processed and shaped into a cuttable loaf.
(Think of it as a very-fine-grained turkey sausage, really.)
Posted by: Sigivald at September 13, 2006 01:07 PM
How have you managed to survive this long? Jack.
Posted by: Jack Lorenz at September 13, 2006 02:05 PM
Pastrami, corned, beef, et al are preserved with saltpeter, sugar and salt hence the red color.
Lox, and other cold smoked fish are not cooked. They are preserved in direct proportion to the strength and penetration of the smoke. Tars and other chemicals in the smoke provide flavor and kill microbes. They also change the texture, again, in direct proportion to the strength of smoking. For a bite of heaven hook your fangs into some gravlax. It's smoked pickled salmon. Just about the most delight a human can experience while clothed.
Deli turkey is not suitable for people or dogs to eat. It's pretty good crab bait.
Eat fresh veggies sooner rather than later, they're called "perishables" for a reason.
Posted by: Gerry N. at September 13, 2006 03:42 PM
Bananas go black in the fridge, but they stop ripening. They look funny, but most people throw the peels away....
The trick to most fruits is to take them out of the funny plastic bags the stores sell them in. If you have a small basket, that helps air circulate they are less likely to go all yuck on you in 36 hours. A regular bowl will do.
Deli Turkey.... buy the high-end brands like Boarshead Provisions. Most are pressed with a lot of non-turkey filler.
And don't buy Sara Lee deli meats or cheese - they give a LOT of money to anti-gun crowd.
Good Lox should be more orange than red. Onions, tomato cream cheese and a bagel.... if you can find a real bagel. (No one hand-rolls bagels anymore, and the machine made ones aren't as good, but they are better than that frozen stuff.) Some people omit the Cheese, but then I'm not that crazy about lox. Though the place that sells you good lox, will usually sell you a decent bagel. Lox, Stock and Bagel in Chicago was a favorite... doubt it is still there.
Posted by: Zendo Deb at September 13, 2006 10:07 PM
Coffman is right about tomatoes, one addition do not set them down on the stem side (shoulders) it causes them to bruise, break down and accelerate spoiling.
Posted by: straightarrow at September 13, 2006 10:09 PM
Speaking of deli meat... if you buy the better brands, even stuff like baloney is OK. But stay away from the olive loaf... the olives are OK, it's what the olives are floating in that is scary.
Posted by: Zendo Deb at September 13, 2006 10:13 PM
Mushrooms should be kept in something that can breathe, like a paper bag. Not in anything plastic, like a T*pp*rw*r* container. And refrigerated.
Posted by: AlanDP at September 14, 2006 06:54 AM
Potatos, onions and garlic should not be refrigerated. All should be kept in room temperature, dry, dark areas. They should also be able to breathe, so nothing airtight, but a cabinet is OK.
Posted by: MG2 at September 14, 2006 03:18 PM
I keep tomatoes in the fridge if I don't have time to do something within a coule of days because otherwise they start turning red.
Posted by: triticale at September 14, 2006 09:16 PM
ALl the above are correct.
One addition to mushrooms:
Keep them out of ANYTHNING, even a paper bag, if you need to keep them for long. A paper bag is ok for a day or two, but past that keep them out on the counter in a mesh strainer or something with very good circulation. Mushrooms are fine even when shrivelled and dried, so long as they did not start to show signs of decomposition or other fungus, like fine white fuzz. If you smell an amonia-like scent, toss 'em.
And never wash them until you are about to use them, and even then, a dry wipe is better than rinsing.
And yes, I am a bit of a mushroom nut....
Posted by: tomWright at September 15, 2006 07:04 PM
Being a hopeless, lifelong bachelor, I'm also a kitchen cretin and have some clueless questions to throw-out to you, my dear, knowledgeable, wonderfully helpful visitors. Is that enough buttering-up?
1) If I have a box of granulated white sugar in an open box and the ants haven't found it and humidity hasn't clumped it together as yet, how long does it last? What's it's shelf-life? Does sugar go bad? How about brown sugar if kept in an air-tight container?
2) I've mentioned before that I love the frozen cheese-stuffed pasta, Tortellini. Up till now, the local market carried some decent brands such as Rosetto. They all had boiling times of 2-5 minutes. Now, I'M STUCK with the stupid Shurfine brand (that's all anyone's carrying any more and yes, rural living has it's drawbacks) and they say to boil it for 12-15 minutes. What's the 'effing deal?
3) Olive Oil questions... I use olive oil as much as possible. (A) For cooking, say for putting a few drops in a pot of boiling water when cooking pasta, should I use regular olive oil or the "extra virgin" one? (B) When making my Good Seasons brand salad dressing (such as to put ON the tortellini I mentioned above) should I use regular olive oil or the "extra virgin" one? I don't know the difference between the two. (I have to make my own salad dressings because all the commercial ones use soy oil which is terrible for my gout where-as olive oil is just fine. Besides, it's supposed to be good for me.)
I'm determined to do more cooking for myself and to cut-down on TV dinners and take-out food. It's too expensive and I feel so lame. I imagine that the "Stupid Single Guy Food Questions" category will become a frequent one around here. Thanks for your help!
Comments to previous posting: Click "Continue..."
The sugar thing: it will last until the humidity eventually clumps it together or the ants find it. Then it's lost. For neatness's sake alone, store it in some kind of closed container.
Olive oil: Extra virgin gives you more flavor with less oil. You don't need as much to get that wonderful flavor.
If I could cook everything with only two ingredients, they would be olive oil and garlic.
Posted by: patrick at September 5, 2006 11:52 AM
Yeah, sugar will last forever if kept dry. It is actually a bit of a preservative unless diluted, that's part of the reason it's often used in meat curing, particularly ham. Seal it in plastic bags and press out the air for very long term storage.
Olive oil: use the cheaper stuff if you're putting it in boiling water. Also, I'd use the cheaper stuff when sauteing or frying. Use the better stuff for salads or anything else that you want to taste the oil.
Posted by: Ken Summers at September 5, 2006 12:09 PM
Putting oil in the water while boiling water is a bunch of hooey. The oil will only float on the top while the pasta sits lower, untouched. After you stain the pasta you can use oil or your favorite butter-like substance (such as BUTTER) to keep it from clumping.
Extra-virgin olive oil is even more heart-healthy than regular olive oil. Use it if you need it or prefer its taste. Otherwise, the regular stuff is usually cheaper.
Posted by: DLO at September 5, 2006 12:17 PM
I echo the comments about the sugar - it should keep indefinately if kept dry, and away from ants.
Brown sugar might have a tendency to develope molds, but only because it is "moister" than regular granualted sugar.
I can't really help you with your tortellini problems; the only thing I can suggest is that perhaps the Rosetto brand were pre-boiled in some way before packaging, while the "Shurfine" brand aren't. They might have some info on this on their respective websites.
As for olive oil, if you can't taste the difference between extra virgin and regular olive oil, then I'd go for the regular - for the amounts you're going to be using, it's just as good for you, and it's cheaper.
However, if you are opting for flavour, and like lots of it, I've found that Portuguese olive oil has much stronger flavours to it.
Posted by: Nimrod45 at September 5, 2006 12:54 PM
The oil in boiling water is not quite hooey. It doesn't add to the pasta's flavor, but it's not supposed to. It helps reduce foaming and boiling over. Alton Brown said so, and I've witnessed the difference personally.
That said, I use cheapo canola oil for it. Works just as well, and the flavor doesn't matter.
Posted by: roy at September 5, 2006 01:31 PM
This is what I've heard from the "experts" on olive oil (I think it was America's Test Kitchen). You should use plain old "100% pure" olive oil for cooking, especially frying, as it doesn't break down thermally and all that, or use it in cooking where you don't want the strong olive oil falor/aroma. For raw foods, such as salads, go for the extra virgin stuff.
All you need to know about cooking you can get from four places: Betty Crocker cook book, Steven Raichlen's bbq books and tv show, America's test kitchen, and the original Japanese Iron Chef.
That and a bottle of Stubb's Smokey Mequite bbq sauce and you're set.
Posted by: ben at September 5, 2006 02:03 PM
Mayonaise:
You may not believe till you try it.
One whole egg one cup oil whatever flavors you like (blue cheese, dry itallian dressing etc -non acidic-) whizz together from the bottom up. Get a hand held whizzer at the Good Will for a couble bucks. Like this one:
{http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_10/601-3856689-
1567325?%5Fencoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B0000AZUW9 ]
Takes less than ten seconds.
The pasta is precooked. A general rule for pasta is ~ ten minutes. Have you tried dropping in boiling water turn off heat let stand ten minutes covered?
What do ye need brown sugar for? Molasses works just as well with white sugar for sweetening. And keeps forever.
Never throw nothing away: Buy a wonder roast chicken. For you it makes 2 or 3 meals. Eat your fav pieces for supper - skinned of course - bone the rest for sandwiches or add to your pasta.
Skin and bones get simmered overnight in 2 - 3 cups of water with a tablespoon or two of *cheap* chicken bullion. Strain into a quart jar and if you put enough salty cheap bullion in it it will keep for months in the refrigerator. Use to make soups and strengthen the flavours of gravy and sauces (no more salt needed). It will gel and the fat will float to the top and is easily skimmed off and discarded, or saved and used in place of frying oil. Can't be beat for making fried potatoes.
The trick is to plan meals w/leftovers that can be used in a different meal the next day or frozen and warmed in the mic a week or two later. Soups and stews are ideal for this.
tg
Posted by: Tom Gunn at September 5, 2006 02:30 PM
Sugar, honey, and Twinkies are some of the foods with a half life instead of a shelf life.
Any edible oil or fat in the pasta water helps to prevent it boiling over.
Try extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of minced garlic on your spaghetti instead of sauce. Delicious. Or a splash of soy sauce.
As for cooking times for packaged pastas, pull one out and try it every five minutes or so.
Posted by: Gerry N. at September 5, 2006 03:07 PM
Ditto on America's Test Kitchen.
My takle on the olive-oil in boiling water was that it coiated the pasta and prevented the sauce from penetrating - so put the oil on afterwards.
First Cold Press Extra Virgin olive oil acidity max .3% is da kline! Dr. Perricone says the stuff is a powerful anti-inflammatory and for some reason Spanish extra virgin olive-oils have the highest levels of polyphenols (anti-inflammatory) of which hydroxytyrosol is the key, and the main flavor you taste. :-)
Posted by: DirtCrashr at September 5, 2006 04:40 PM
Oh jeze, and I have a spellchecker extension for Firefox too (AspellFox), sorry.
Posted by: DirtCrashr at September 5, 2006 04:43 PM
Echo Roy. The oil on the boiling water is to minimize splatter (and it doesn't matter what oil you use).
To the cooking sources, add The Joy of Cooking, but not the current edition. Find the last version actually by Rombauer and Becker (mine is from about 1980 or thereabouts, I think that's their last). Outstanding source of information.
I've never seen America's Test Kitchen, I'll have to check it out.
Posted by: Ken Summers at September 5, 2006 05:45 PM
Everyone else answered the questions, but I see you mentioned gout.
FYI:
I get an acute attack once or twice a year. In general, a balanced diet helps prevent it (it is essentially a dietary problem). Also, when it does hit (or when you can feel it coming on) fresh strawberries definitely help. I try to eat a small bowl at every meal during an attack. I've also had good luck (maybe just coincidental) with eating dried apricots when strawberries are out of season. The only downside to the apricots is that in quantity they have an effect similar to prunes. Ahem. And stay hydrated: If you don't have to go '1' then you aren't drinking enough water.
Posted by: Anon at September 5, 2006 06:39 PM
See, I always thought (or at least what I remember being taught) that the oil in boiling water was to keep the pasta from clumping together...
Anon, Thanks. Actually, I do the same program with cherries.
Posted by: Jeff Soyer at September 5, 2006 07:43 PM
My favorite batchelor meal: Nature burger in microwave for 1:45. Two slices of Pecan-honey wheat bread in the toaster for :45. Dole spring mix for greens. Make a sandwitch and douse the whole thing in virgin olive oil. I mean....I support virgins Jeff. Don't you? Sheesh.
I cut the sandwitch into quarters and overdo it on the spring mix so that there is a salad on the side.
Posted by: robert at September 5, 2006 08:43 PM
Extra virgin olive oil is the way to go.
Cooking pasta: If you do have to buy sauce in jars, look for a brand that contains NO sugar. There are a few. Classico comes to mind. If you need sugar, add some, but the sauces that contain sugar (or other sweeteners) contain way too much.
Albacore tuna makes a nice addition to a read sauce over pasta - noodles. Too much yuck in cheese-filled whatever.
Some of my favorite quick meals....
Stir Fry: This works good if you have a wok, but even a decent skillet will do. Cut up chunks of beef or chicken, stir fry in HOT peanut oil, remove. Stir fry cut up peppers, onions, etc. add tomatoes at the end if you must. Start the rice before you start the stir fry. Plain white long-grain rice takes 20 minutes. 1 cup rice, 2 cups water, salt, butter or oil bring to boil while stirring (or the rice will stick), cover (lid needs to fit tightly) and reduce heat to as low as you can. Stir once after 10 minutes. You will need to add something to give it a bit of flavor, but even low-salt soy sauces will work. You can do it all with peppers if you know what kind you like. This was college food. Fast, healthy, cheap. Rice and veggies with enough meat to convince you that you are not a vegitarian.
A boneless chicken breast, dipped in bread crumbs (Contadina Itallian Bread crumbs have nice spices added) with a bit of garlic powder, or other spices and then baked at 350 until brown - put a bit of butter on the top of the crumbs. Takes no time really - preheat the oven or toaster oven, bread the chicken and wait till its done. A salad, or something on the side. Rice or whatever if you want a starch.
Couscous if you can find it is ready in the time it takes to boil water. Boil the water, add the spices (you usually by the couscous in a package with spices supplied) stir, turn off the heat, cover, wait 5 minutes... while you set the rest of the table. You may not be able to find this in rural America, but look in the store near the rice or the stove-top stuffing. Couscous if you don't know is a rice-like grain, that sort of ends up being like stove-top stuffing.
Best of luck
Posted by: Zendo Deb at September 5, 2006 08:48 PM
Drain the tuna.
The Chicken breast thing works well with pork chops as well. You can pan sear them if you have a frying pan with a lid, but you need to be carefull not to burn them while still cooking them. Oven is the way to go, especially as the weather turns cooler - and heating up the place doesn't sound like a bad idea.
Posted by: Zendo Deb at September 5, 2006 08:54 PM
If you are going to cook, get 1 decent skillet, a sauce pan with a lid that fits tightly, a couple of decent knives. a good wooden spoon and some wooden spatulas are good too.
It pays to have the right tools for the job.
Posted by: Zendo Deb at September 5, 2006 08:59 PM
Fresh pasta, the stuff that hasn't dried to rock hardness, cooks in 2 -5 min, where the regular stuff takes about 12 - 15. Since this matches whe cooking times pretty well I'd guess one was fresh, the other not.
Posted by: Phil-Z at September 5, 2006 09:41 PM
To expand on Tom Gunn's statement on the tortellini cooking time issue...it really does depend on the brand's manufacturing specifications. I just happen to work for a company which makes cheese stuffed pasta products...and we just happen to make both Rosetto AND Shurfine tortellini. I can't get into the specifics of each but there are basically three different levels of pre-cooking which can occur.
The first is basically a "blanching" where the product is merely taken up to a minimum of 165°F for at least 15 seconds as a "kill step" to neutralize any bacterial pathogens and then it is flash frozen (it takes about 15-20 minutes and the product is at about -10°F) and packaged. The Shurfine torts would be this type...they are basically uncooked and it makes the product cheaper because of the lower processing time (there are plenty of other reasons why the Shurfine torts are cheaper but we won't go there.)
The second is a semi-cooked tort like the Rosetto torts. These are cooked until they are, literally, ALMOST done. The short 3-5 minutes you cook it is adequate to thaw and heat the center and finish cooking the pasta wrapper...most premium brands are prepared in this manner which is slightly more costly but provides a great degree of convenience for the consumer.
The third type would be a "salad tortellini" which is fully cooked and can be thawed and eaten...they are mainly used for making cold salads but they can be completely thawed, placed in boiling water for 30-60 seconds and served with sauce without overcooking.
I'm not sure what chains you have around...if you drop me an e-mail and list some of your local grocery stores I might be able to steer you to a similar product. I think Wal-Mart carries a product line called "Mona's Pasta Cafe" in most areas that are generally good quality, you might want to try them.
Another suggestion I would give is to try some dried tortellini. I prefer the dried Barilla Cheese and Spinach torts over ANY frozen tort I've tried (the cooking time is in the 10-12 minute region.)
Posted by: Gregory Markle at September 5, 2006 09:50 PM
And with only the barest of hints, the first chapter of "The Gay, Conservative, Gun-Nuts Batchelor Cookbook" are written. In no time you'll be as rich and famous as ol' whassisname over at Hog on Ice.
Go for it.
Posted by: Billll at September 5, 2006 11:17 PM
Jeff, I think you're on to something here. When was the last time a gun-related post got 20 comments in such a short time? :-) I think it was maybe the Serbu .50 cal or something...
Posted by: Kirk Parker at September 6, 2006 01:33 AM
i wish to comment about the oil thing but it seems like everybody has made a fuss about it. anyways, all the comments posted are true about oil. looks like they made a thorough research about it.
Posted by: liz71 at September 6, 2006 05:12 AM
Sugar keeps. Brown sugar less so because of its molasses content. I have been meaning to blog about:
http://www.foodsubs.com/
Which is a really cool site you might find helpful.
Posted by: Jay at September 6, 2006 09:50 AM
It's funny, I cooked for myself some when I was single, but no longer being single I wish I could go back and experiment more knowing some of what I ahve learned. I have been tempted to create a single person's real food cookbook at times. I could have eaten great and saved a lot of money.
To do that I'd have to channel Steve Graham and do a lot more experimenting, but who knows.
I have no idea what's up with the tortellini. The 12-15 sounds long side of normal to me, based on our sometimes eating a particular name brand of dry cheese tortellini. The short cooking time sounds more like what you'd use for fresh tortellini they sell refrigerated. If your favored brand was dry, perhaps there was some trick of pre-cookery going on, like they do with minute rice to make it not take 20 minutes or so.
Posted by: Jay at September 6, 2006 10:00 AM
America's Test Kitchen is awesome. I suggested recently that we try to figure out when the shows are on and tape them.
I have never used oil in pasta cooking.
I sometimes use butter in cooking rice, though the difference it makes, observing what happens when it is left out, doesn't seem to be important, especially with brown rice. I am more likely to use butter in the rice when I am going to make fried rice out of it; sort of a pre-coating.
Posted by: Jay at September 6, 2006 10:09 AM
Well, the sugar and olive oil have been well covered by the time I got here, but I'll add my voice to the "Cook with regular olive oil, serve the Extra Virgin Olive Oil at the table" crowd.
Another great book about cooking (but not a cookbook) is Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for the Food.
Posted by: Brian B at September 6, 2006 11:57 AM
I'm late to the party, but I'll chime in anyway... my creds on cooking things include 1 year of culinary school.
On the pasta - one thing to know about tortellini is that when it's done it will rise to the top of the water. So where a time is given, use your timer, but remove 1 minute and when the timer goes off start watching the pot for floating pasta.
On the olive oil - I agree with the use regular for cooking and EVOO at the table school of thought.
Also about oil - there is never a true need for adding oil to pasta water. It adds no flavor to the pasta and there's no real evidence that it reduces splatter. To me it's a waste of oil.
What I do is add salt to the boiling pot before I add the pasta. This does add flavor to the pasta and helps bring out the flavor of the sauce when it gets added as well.
Posted by: jen at September 6, 2006 02:42 PM
Interesting. I always avoid adding salt to the water just as one more way to reduce salt to nothing so we can honestly make fun of the "you MUST eat too much salt or your blood pressure wouldn't be high" crowd.
Posted by: Jay at September 6, 2006 03:25 PM
I make a mess of stuff cover (one layer cling-film and one layer tin-=foil) and and freeze the leftovers in small oven-safe dishes that I can just put in the oven to re-heat. It simplifies meal management and increases menu-choice - IO'll have some pot-roast in one, enchiladas in another, spaghetti-and sausage in a third, osso-bucco, etc. That takes the cooking effort and spreads it out over time and reduces waste - I identify the dishes with a sharpie marker, writing on the tinfoil.
Posted by: DirtCrashr at September 6, 2006 03:40 PM
OK, my 2 bucks worth:
The difference between extra virgin olive oil and pure olive oil, is that EVOO is first cold pressing and has the most flavour and good stuff in it. It is also more expensive. Use it only when you will eat it, such as in a dressing or sauce or on garlic bread, etc. Use the pure or other grades when you will not eat them directly, like to oil a pan or spread on water or as an ingredient in a recipe where you do NOT want to taste the oil.
Oil on water does calm the surface and prevent foaming or boil over that can sometimes occur, but you need a good spoonful or so, a few drops are not sufficient. Use any cheap oil for this.
Salt in water can add flavor, but it also slightly raises the boiling point, so you are cooking a few degrees higher than 212 if boiling.
I can vouch for Americas Test Kitchen. Probably the single best cooking show I have seen in almost 5 decades of life. Second goes to Jacques Pepin, most of his stuff is simple, easy, well explained and really good. He has a couple books out that I like as well.
Americas test kitchen has an outstanding web site, paid subscription needed, but it is cheap. They have all their recipes and reviews online. They are part of cooks illustrated, also a great magazine for real-person cooks as opposed to poser gourmonds. Their Tuna Salad recipe is the best I have made.
For a good book to learn from, try Julia Childs last book: The Way To Cook. It has all the basics, from simple to complex, and you should be able to find a soft cover used. I have used more from that book and Pepin's book than from all the others combined.
And if you like single pot meals, invest in a pressure cooker. I use one for all kinds of bean/lentil dishes, as well as meat stews. Black beans from dried in 45 minutes, beef stew in an hour or so. Indespensible as far as I am concerned, and it can be used as a plain pot without the pressure cover, so it is always useful. Fagor brand from Spain is the best I know available in the major stores and online, and has the best reviews overall. Not too pricey either if you get the smaller ones. I use it so much I bought two.
Posted by: tomWright at September 6, 2006 07:42 PM
You folks are great! Thanks for all the advice. I think I will make this a regular series of posts. I have A LOT of questions!
Posted by: Jeff Soyer at September 6, 2006 09:08 PM
Olive oil and garlic, mmmmmmmm. I have to second the recommendations for a good set of knives and Joy of Cooking.
I coughed up I think $150 for just an 8-inch general purpose knife and a little 3-inch paring knife, but they are sooooooo much easier and quicker to use than the crappy little set I had before. I've had them for about five years and expect them to last longer than me!
JoC not only has umpteen recipes including menus for parties and such, but it includes measurement and ingredient conversions, a suggested list of kitchen toys, basics on canning, cheese-making, and game preparation (!), and so on.
Oh, so I at least try to answer one of your questions :) I have a set of monster-sized glass jars with clamping sealed lids. They're great for sugar, flour, pasta, etc etc.
Posted by: Michelle at September 6, 2006 09:56 PM
Salt in water does not raise the boiling point enough to matter unless you are adding enough to make brine. Ditto with regards to sodium intake; most of it goes down the gluggle.
Posted by: triticale at September 7, 2006 11:28 AM
(Red) Wine is good to add into almost any cooking equation where you simmer or bake meat in a liquid, but don't use wine you wouldn't drink. I've never tried using white wine for anything cooking related except fish once, some Mahi-Mahi with ginger and butter and scalions...
Posted by: DirtCrashr at September 7, 2006 01:51 PM
By all means, continue with the cooking stuff. Guns and food, yes! Saw a show on PBS about making olive oil and it was very informative. Basically what everyone else has been saying, Extra Virgin is from the first pressing, Virgin oil from the second pressing and Olive oil is, apparently from the last squeezin'. I love the stuff and as I don't use all that much I don't mind paying a bit more for it. Sam's Club or Costco, if there's one near to you, usually have decent prices on olive oil in 2 to 5 liter quantities. The color of the oil can be deceptive. Extra Virgin is not always a light golden color, depending on the type of olives used. Better stop now or I'll go on and on. Great post.
Posted by: Jim at September 8, 2006 08:35 AM
Here's one from left field. Where I work, we build furniture out of, among other things, walnut. There's a large walnut tree outside the factory showroom and it's just laden with walnuts that are starting to drop. There's a small fortune laying in the grass. They're covered in a green felty sort of stuff. Since I like walnuts, what do I do with these things?
Someone told me to throw them in the root celler for a year but that sounds ridiculous. Do I peel off the green felt and then crack the thing open? Boil them? How long do they keep? And, do I need to refrigerate un-opened ones?
2) Assuming I keep them refrigerated, how long do opened bottles of stuff like pickle-relish, mustard, and ketchup last? How would I know if they've gone bad, aside from using them and getting ill?
3) I like honey. Sometimes I put it in milk, believe it or not. I also like it in coffee. I've been keeping the jar refrigerated but then it gets all whitish and solid. Is it safe to keep it out, instead, like peanut butter? (With the lids on, of course.)
Thanks!
Comments from previous posting: Click "Continue..."
It has always mystified me as to why people think honey needs to be refrigerated, but then, not everyone has a dad who is a beekeeper.
Never refrigerate honey. It only accelerates the crystalization process. If it's "raw" honey it will crystalize even faster. The stuff sold in stores takes longer, but all honey will crystalize eventually.
Honey was used in centuries past as a preservative--meat was stored in honey to preserve the meat. I think it was the ancient Egyptians who did this. It will not "sour" or go bad under any normal conditions.
Crystalized, or "sugared" honey, is still good to eat. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it except that it's no longer completely liquid. You can use a butterknife to smear it on toast. Some people crystalize their honey on purpose because they like to use it that way. You can still use it to sweeten hot beverages. When it hits a hot liquid like coffee or warm milk, it will dissolve just like sugar, except that it will dissolve much faster.
Crystalized honey can be re-liquified by heating. Put the jar in a pot of hot water, lid open, water level lower than the top of the jar. However, re-liquified honey will tend to re-crystalize again faster than honey that has never crystalized.
Posted by: AlanDP at September 8, 2006 06:34 AM
Here's what I know about your questions:
1) Walnuts. Fast and simple, let the green felty part dry out until it turns black/dark brown. Sprinkle them on your driveway and run over them a few times with your car. Seriously. The "husk" can be toxic and make you sick (if you notice, very few plants like living next to black walnut trees), so you don't want to touch that part if you can avoid it. Wash them up afterwards before you crack them open.
2) Condiments. Relish, catsup and mustard are pretty acidic, so they keep for quite a long time.
3) AlanDP said it all, except that when archaeoligists have been excavating ancient Egyptian tombs, they've found honey...and it was still good. Honey has been used as an antibacterial agent, so yeah...it keeps for thousands of years...
Posted by: Sandi at September 8, 2006 08:59 AM
Good comment on Honey AlanDP.
One thing to add, you can also re-liquify it in a microwave. Just be careful, cause it can get super heated (and very liquidy).
As to the other questions, I have no idea regarding walnuts, don't eat pickle relish and have never had mustard or ketchup last long enough to worry.
The mustard question is probably harder to actually answer since some mustards use a mayonaise base (which will go bad) and others are just ground up mustard seeds in water and then all sorts of combinations inbetween.
Posted by: countertop at September 8, 2006 08:59 AM
Sandi, it that right about the husks? My family's been picking up the walnuts for years, though normally the husks are at the point of pretty much falling off by themselves.
Posted by: Ken Summers at September 8, 2006 09:18 AM
Jeff,
get yourself this cookbook and enjoy. Some of the best recipes for solo eating.
Posted by: Brass at September 8, 2006 10:13 AM
Just to back up what Sandi and Ken said, you have to get the husks off the walnuts, and it is best to let them dry. Otherwise, the juice in the husks will dye your skin, although it wears off pretty fast.
Little white kids who wanted to play "Indian" used to use the juice to dye themselves brown. I think the it was also used as a fabric dye by frontier seamstresses.
Once the husks are removed, make sure that the walnut shells are completely dry before storing them, and all should be well.
Posted by: Chas S. Clifton at September 8, 2006 10:32 AM
A true honey story: My roomie in grad school spent a year on foreign study in Sweden. The family he stayed with served honey at breakfast. It was crytallized in a platic container. When he pointed out that it was very different from what he was used to, the kids in the family did not believe his story about honey being a liquid back in Texas. Maybe the stories about giant Texas armadillos that ambush lone Star Beer trucks had degraded his believability.... Much experimentation followed, with microwaving of the honey, double boiling of the honey, refreezing of the honey outdoors in the snow and so on. A good time was had by all.
Posted by: Austin Mike at September 8, 2006 11:05 AM
http://backtable.org/~blade/fnord/condiments.html
Lots of other good search results if you use the words condiments shelf