Latest Cooking Answers

Why put cinnamon in chili?

We had an office chili cook-off recently (I didn't enter). Two of the chili recipes presented used cinnamon predominately, perhaps even overpoweringly (IMO). Gi

How long can frosting with butter, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and milk, that is covered with fondant be left out of the refrigerator?

I'm making a 9x13 chocolate cake, frosted with a vanilla buttercream, (not filled) and covered with black Fondarific fondant. Here's the ingredients for the fr

Dangerous pathogens capable of growing in acidic environments

Imagine this scenario: You've cooked up a batch of chili peppers (or cucumbers, or anything, really), put them in a clean container, filled it with vinegar, an

Tortilla Espinoza — what is it and how do I make it?

It's been requested that I make a traditional Spanish dish named tortilla espinoza. I have no idea what this is, and Google has failed me in finding something

Is eating road kill a health-hazard?

I read this recent news story about a Kentucky Chinese restaurant dragging road kill into their restaurant and the town became skittish and shut the restaurant

Can I use microwave turntable glass plate in convection mode?

I bought a Singer SMW25GCQ6 model microwave oven. It has convection and grill features. For baking cakes and for grilling we don't use the glass turntable plate

Did 150 °C (300 °F) ruin my cream sauce, or is it just overcooked, or fine?

I made a new recipe -that had chicken, mushrooms and onion sauteed in butter, to make a casserole. I made a white sauce - butter/flour, lactose-free milk, and

Could it be bad black olive that I've eaten?

I tried some black olive on the pizza from a USA style pizza shop and it taste really bad. Given that it is praised as a really good stuff I am wondering if it

Is there an alternative and less toxic way to clean an oven than using oven spray?

I have drippings that have caked on to the botton surface of my oven. Now, every time we use the oven, they start to smoke and set off the smoke detector. What

How to bake without an oven? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate:Is it possible to bake a cake without an oven? I'm a poor lady who can't afford an oven. I have pots here, charcoa

What is an economic way to store/buy ingredients for salad?

Given that many ingredients in salad will go bad after several days, how can one store leftover salad so it is not wasted? Many vegetables, such as beans, lose

Buckwheat flour. Can it be used for pizza dough, and what other uses/properties does it have?

Buckwheat flour. Can it be used for pizza dough, and what other uses/properties does it have? I remember making crepes from buckwheat flour and I'd like to use

What is the best way to chip your butter when making biscuits?

I love biscuits and have made many. The one thing that gets me is cutting the butter. I have used several different approaches with varying degrees of success.

When a recipe says, 'simmer uncovered', what's the issue?

Many a recipe or package instructs: 'cook uncovered' without stating a reason. As a general matter, is this to protect me from boilover, or does it have some mo

My Shrink Wrapped Steaks are Brown when I thaw them!

My parents bought a slab of steaks from my cousin who personally shrink-wrapped them. But when they thawed them out they were brown! Are they still good to eat

Trouble tempering Valrhona Couverture Manjari (64%) Chocolate

I have tried to temper equal amounts of Valrhona Couverture Manjari (64%) chocolate + baking chocolate (Van-Heusen brand, dark chocolate) without any success.

How to properly sauté mushrooms so that they don't release water?

Every time I try to sauté mushrooms, they release so much water I end up with a puddle. This, from what I gather, is not the intended effect - they shoul

Lots of liquid in bottom of wok when stir frying

When making stir fry, I use chicken, onion, bell peppers, green onions, bean sprouts, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots. When doing this, I use just enough pean

How do I make cake batter from scratch without butter?

I need to make a cake, but I don't have butter, I could go buy some, but I don't have time because i need to do this cake right now and finish it in an hour so

Can food be boiled "extra fast/hard" in water?

Once water is boiling you can either leave the heat on quite high, or turn it down a bit so that it just keeps boiling. Apart from extra water vaporating, does

A substitute for carrageenan?

We are trying to make nondairy cheese. The recipe calls for Carrageenan and we have arrowroot. How much arrowroot should we use in lieu of the carrageenan?

What's the difference between chutney and relish?

I was out last night at a friend's house, they served what I would call chutney. I said, "This chutney is amazing". To which they replied, "Do you mean the reli

How to prevent my marshmallows from melting in my hot cocoa?

Whenever I make a hot cocoa, adding powdered cocoa in a hot water (not boiling), and add my marshmallows in it, the marshmallows just melts until they are compl

Can bright green avocados be ripe?

I very rarely buy avocado, but now I happen to have two of them in my kitchen. I'm used to ripe avocado having this colour: Now, mine are more brightly gre

Should I store root vegetables with or without the dirt?

When you buy vegetables at a farmers market, often you will get root vegetables (e.g. potatoes, carrots) that are unwashed and with its dirt still clinging on t

How to thicken a white wine sauce to drizzle over prawns?

I'm thinking of making a white wine sauce which will consist of White wine chopped garlic squeeze of lemon (maybe) mixed herbs. What I have in mind is somethi

Rule of thumb for cooking multiple things in a microwave at the same time?

Is it possible to cook multiple things at the same time in a microwave and how do I adjust the cooking time? What if the two items are identical, do I double t

Can Calcium Chloride be Used to Prevent Lentils from Bursting?

In Modernist Cuisine, they recommend using calcium chloride when cooking beans to help preventing them from bursting: Beans often burst after being cooked i

Looking for meat ingredient suggestions for a Yoghurt Cake recipe

I know the flavours of "meat" and "sweet" can sometimes go together well. There's a sausage and fennel (licorice sensation) pastry that I very much enjoy. That'

To chop or to blend?

Many dishes start off by finely chopping and then frying vegetables (usually onions, carrots, celery and maybe garlic) to get a good flavour base. If you want