Ask Me Anything (A pro's perspective)

[Alien Allen]

Hey Tang I get the point about letting the steak rest but I would think it would cool off a bit after 5-10 minutes resting.

Or are you putting it on a heated plate??

 

[Tangerine]

Hey Tang I get the point about letting the steak rest but I would think it would cool off a bit after 5-10 minutes resting.

Or are you putting it on a heated plate??

No heated plate. The juices inside are so hot the steak is literally still cooking for quite a while.
Pop the plate into the oven (not turned on) to hold if you like. The insulation will help. But unless your room is really cold, you won't notice much.

Realize that a medium rare steak is only about a 130F to begin with, so it's not exactly rip-roaring hot.

 

[Leah Love]

:24: :24: It seems that Tang decided to skip Hous' and my earlier post entirely

 

[cam elle toe]

:24: :24: It seems that Tang decided to skip Hous' and my earlier post entirely

I'll put the order up again, it may have fallen down.....can I offer you a complimentary garlic bread while you wait?

and Thanks Tang....I'm going to attempt some on the weekend:thumbup

 

[USF Sam]

I'll put the order up again, it may have fallen down.....can I offer you a complimentary garlic bread while you wait?

and Thanks Tang....I'm going to attempt some on the weekend:thumbup

:24::24:

Nicely played. Sounds like you have some experience saying that.

 

[Leah Love]

I'll put the order up again, it may have fallen down.....can I offer you a complimentary garlic bread while you wait?

and Thanks Tang....I'm going to attempt some on the weekend:thumbup

Hey Cam *hugs* Yep, I would love some garlic bread

 

[Tangerine]

:24: :24: It seems that Tang decided to skip Hous' and my earlier post entirely

No.. just a little scattered brained today and knocking out the easier ones as the come in. I promise I will be going through and getting to every one!


For yours, Leah, a short answer is one-pot meals. Do some googling for stews, braises, things like a Vietnamese Pho, etc. I'll dig up other ideas, but that's the direction I would go to start.

 

[JoeCool10]

Another one for you. I love the Terra Chips that they sell at Whole Foods stores, the ones that have slices of sweet potatoes, beets, yuca, malanga, etc. How can I make this at home without screwing up the chips, making them too soggy or too hard? I figure cooking them would be a lot different than making regular potato chips.

 

[cam elle toe]

Hey Cam *hugs* Yep, I would love some garlic bread

here you go. I see Chef has spoken to you. I hope all is well.:24:

 

[Tangerine]

Why does most food and drink that tastes good, bad for you and most healthy food tastes like shit?

My first day of culinary school the teacher wrote 2 short sentences on the board. He told us that really, all the time and money we were investing was summarized in those two sentences. In a lot of ways, he was right.

#1 was pretty much the answer to this question.

FAT IS FLAVOR.

Fats and sugars are the things that excite our tastebuds. They don't do as many good things for the rest of us, unfortunately. It's really all about using those things in moderation to make things that are the best of both worlds.

 

[Tangerine]

Wow, your thread is popular, Tang!!! Here's one for ya...do you have a good stir fry sauce recipe that isn't extremely ginger-heavy??? I can deal w/ a little ginger but too much and I'm turned off. I'm on the SouthBeach Diet and would have to substitute low sodium soy sauce, but any spices are good as long as they don't have added sugar.

Thanks!!!

You can stir-fry in just about anything.

Buy some low-sodium beef broth and thicken it by heating it and stirring in some corn starch dissolved in water - just like making gravy. Add any spices you like to that. If you want to keep it very Asian, try garlic, lemongrass, red chili flake and very light touch of chinese 5-spice powder.

 

[Tangerine]

Would 1 cup of a dry ingredient in a measuring cup measure out to 1 cup in liquid measuring cup and vice versa with 1 cup of a wet ingredient be the same in a 1 cup dry measuring cup?

Cause when i cook sometimes i use a measuring cup to measure out milk or water and i heard i shouldnt do that

Shouldn't be any difference. When measuring volume, a cup is a cup is a cup.

The differences come mostly in baking recipes, where everything is measured by WEIGHT, instead of volume. So when a cake recipe calls for 8 oz of flour - it doesn't mean 1 cup - it means weigh out 8 oz.
Although you'll see lots of recipes that have been simplified to use volume measure like cups and tablespoons, even for the dry ingredients.

Bottom line, if you see OUNCES, they generally mean weight, where CUPS means volume.

Of course, water is exactly 1 oz of weight to 1 oz of volume, so it's irrelevant there. When you start talking about cream, corn syrup, etc, they have much more mass than water - so the weight and volumes aren't equal.

Make sense?

 

[Reflection]

I like Salmon Teriyaki and have grilled it before after marinated. Any other variations of sauces/marinade etc for salmon you can recommend? Thanks

 

[Tangerine]

Ok, I have a question... or more like, a challenge for you Tang.

What recipe would you recommend for someone on an university student budget (read none), who doesn't have any kitchen appliances and only has a hot plate available. It must be easy and delicious and not boring

Couple more specific ideas:

Lamb Tagine
Chicken on the bone with rice and mushroom soup
The Muskalica pork stew I mentioned before
Oxtails and barley
Jambalaya (A New Orleans classic)

All can be made in a single pot, slow cooked for a few hours. Put them in, go to class, come back ready to eat!

 

[Tangerine]

What is the trick to poached eggs?
How do you make them beautiful???

A teaspoon of vinegar in the water help the white coagulate faster and hold the shape better.
Make sure the water doesn't boil. It should be just barely bubbling.

Stir the water rapidly to create a "vortex" in the middle, then carefully drop the egg right into that little spinning tornado. The circulation will wrap the whites around the yolks and hold them all together.

 

[Tangerine]

Another one for you. I love the Terra Chips that they sell at Whole Foods stores, the ones that have slices of sweet potatoes, beets, yuca, malanga, etc. How can I make this at home without screwing up the chips, making them too soggy or too hard? I figure cooking them would be a lot different than making regular potato chips.

I wouldn't think they would fry any differently than a potato. For good frying, though, you have to be 100% certain of your oil temperature. An oil/candy thermometer is a must. I do potato chips at about 340F-350F.

The key is having very even and very thin slices. If you really want to make these at home a lot, invest in a mandoline. High-end pro ones can be hundred of dollars, but you can get a simple one for about $25 that will do the trick. Just be careful, I have seen more nasty cuts from mandolines than from any other kitchen gadget. They are razor sharp.

We use ones exactly like this is our restaurant kitchen
http://homegarden.beanworthy.com/Kyocera-Doubleedged-Slicer-With-Guard-Black/A/B001KVZ8LY.htm

 

[Pumpkin]

A teaspoon of vinegar in the water help the white coagulate faster and hold the shape better.
Make sure the water doesn't boil. It should be just barely bubbling.

Stir the water rapidly to create a "vortex" in the middle, then carefully drop the egg right into that little spinning tornado. The circulation will wrap the whites around the yolks and hold them all together.

This is the method that was used, however lemon juice instead of vinegar (because we had no vinegar). My boyfriend thought it was just the acidity in the vinegar that was needed...maybe not?

Ok, second try with vinegar not lemon juice!

Thanks

 

[cam elle toe]

Oh oh oh


Hollandaise sauce recipe please..(thats the one on Eggs Benedict right?)

I always get Hollandaise and Bernaise confused...so whats the difference?

 

[Tangerine]

Oh oh oh


Hollandaise sauce recipe please..(thats the one on Eggs Benedict right?)

I always get Hollandaise and Bernaise confused...so whats the difference?

Bernaise has tarragon and tarragon vinegar.

 

[cam elle toe]

Can I have a Hollandaise recipe....I LOVE the stuff....(but know its bad for you)