Latest Cooking Answers

"Shelf"-life of frozen Kaffir lime leaves

A scale infection ruined my vision of a constant supply of fresh Kaffir lime leaves. I salvaged the unaffected leaves and now have a baggie full of frozen leave

Leather flavour

A long time ago (ten years I think) I had leather, mint and tobacco chocolates at the Fat Duck. I've made pretty good tobacco ones, and I've been trying to wor

How long will vacuum sealed grilled lemons keep in the refrigerator?

I have cut in half and grilled lemons, then marinated with sugar, herbs and a little oil... All of which have been vacuum sealed in my fridge for about two mont

Culinary term for non-flavor defining ingredients

In a strongly flavoured soup/stew, curry, or sauce, or salad, you sometimes add other ingredients (eg mixed vegetables) that do not strongly influence the flavo

Reducing sweetness of packaged cookie mix

I have a Betty Crocker cookie mix and I find it too sweet. Is there a way to adapt it and make it less sweet? I'm not an experienced baker so I don't know if

Do I need to let wine breathe if I'm cooking with it?

Some red wines benefit from being allowed to breathe for some time before being drunk. If I'm using such a wine for cooking rather than drinking, do I still ne

Can I remove frost from frozen chicken breasts and re-package?

I bought a large package of chicken breast several weeks ago. Usually we break down the bag and package in food saver bags to keep frost at a minimum. For some

Why add lupin flour to white bread?

We buy ordinary, American-style white sandwich bread from a national supermarket chain. I just had a look at the ingredients and was surprised to see that, in

What to do with excess Wham bars

I currently have 50 wham bars in my kitchen , I went a bit ott at wholesalers and after eating one my jaw felt like it was going to give in . Can any of you of

How does gumbo spoil while still cooking?

I'm new to new to New Orleans style of cooking. I heard that gumbo spoils while still cooking. Is this true. I'm confused. Any answer would help.

What is the "honey stick" called?

I often see this utensil used in pictures of honey: I've never seen this stick-like utensil used in other contexts, just for honey. But what is this "honey s

What is the function of this shallow, 19-divoted, eared cast iron piece?

This piece was given to me a few years back by someone who picked it up at an estate sale. At the time I cleaned it up, re-seasoned it, and promptly forgot abou

Refreezing Fish? Safe? [duplicate]

So I bought some Atlantic salmon 2 days ago and put it in the freezer soon as we got it from the grocery. Anyways last night I put it in the

Is this canning method safe to use for spaghetti sauce? (Boiling the sauce in the jars in the oven)

This technique has been used by my family for decades but I'm wondering how safe it is to kill Botulism spores. Step 1, cook the spaghetti sauce in a large pot

How can I improve the shape/appearance of this bread?

I've been making bread from this recipe: 550g flour 370 water 12g kosher salt 4g yeast Knead in the stand mixer, shape into an ovoid bâtard kind of deal

Guidelines for cooking Desert Truffels?

I have gotten my hands on a number of fresh blackish Desert Truffles, which are apparently quite different from the European ones. To quote: Desert truffles

What factors to consider for a long lasting salad?

I'd like to make salad in bulk for the week ahead on a weekend, which I will store at home in the fridge, to take to work. My gut feel is that what I'd typicall

Cooling cooked onions before adding to raw mince

In Masterchef The Professionals (season 8 episode 11), Marcus Wareing demonstrates his skills test and cooks a burger. In the process, he rapidly cools the onio

UK scones versus US scones

I remember listening to an America's Test Kitchen podcast where they compared UK v. US scone styles. They asserted that they were quite different from one anoth

Making toad in the hole with duck eggs

I've been keeping ducks for a couple of years, and therefore I cook with duck eggs, since they're effectively free. They're Indian runner ducks, which aren't ve

How long can I store a food in the pantry, refrigerator, or freezer?

How do I know if a given food or ingredient I have is still good, or if I should discard it? How can I best preserve a food or ingredient?

How to turn pasta sauce into a longer-lasting ketchup?

I was making a bacon sandwich earlier and I have some nice jars of tomato pasta sauce in the cupboard. I thought it'd make a great relish but it would go off to

Fake poached salmon machine?

I went to buy what was advertised as "poached" salmon from my supermarket's prepared food counter and noticed that some of the edges were browned, so I was like

Does jerky need to be preserved with nitrites?

I found some chicken jerky in the store that does not contain nitrites/nitrates or celery extract. Is it safe that way? Is it because it is dried? Thank you! T

Glass baking lid broke - what to substitute?

The glass lid for my pyrex 10x10 baking dish broke. What can I substitute? Tin foil doesn't work -- nothing cooks! Ideas? Thank you.

Coins in bread?

Is it customary, in Greek or any other cuisine, to put a nickel (or any other coin) inside the bread? I know it is tradition to bake an inedible baby figure in

How to avoid using artificial food coloring in cookie and cake decorating

It's been a week since I started some cake and cookie decorating, and normally one needs many colors to come up with a lovely colorful final result whether it i

Is there an alternative to spreading flour when rolling the dough?

Today, when I was rolling the dough for my Podpłomyk, I noticed that I actually need to use quite a lot of flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the

Why add sugar at the end when making strawberry preserve?

What happens when sugar is added to cooked fruit near the end of cooking process? Why sugar is added to cooked fruit near the end of the cooking process?

Vegetable similar to ivy gourd?

I'm looking for the English name for a vegetable / fruit that looks like an Ivy Gourd. The taste is similar as well, but the texture is gritty. The Gujarati pro