I'm hoping this is the right thread for this, but I'm seriously considering trying my hand at cheesemaking at home.
I'm confident that I'm familliar enough with the process to have a go at it, but I'm just wondering if any of you have any suggestions on what kind of equipment I should invest in to get started without breaking the bank or being too space-intensive (small kitchen). Is a proper press absolutely necessary or are there reliable way to jury-rig a cheese press? Any recommendations on newbie-friendly techniques I should consider? Any other advice I can use?
Thanks!
There are a lot of cheeses out there. I'm not sure the process for all of them is the same so it might help to specify.
Fair enough. Essentially, I'm hoping to experiment with different types involving the basics (some variety of whole milk, rennet, seasoning, strain, press, age) and see what I come up with. Basically I guess I'm looking to just dip my toe in with more straightforward varieties to begin with, have fun with it, and see if anyone else has any wisdom/tips/experiences to share.
I'm hoping this is the right thread for this, but I'm seriously considering trying my hand at cheesemaking at home.
I'm confident that I'm familliar enough with the process to have a go at it, but I'm just wondering if any of you have any suggestions on what kind of equipment I should invest in to get started without breaking the bank or being too space-intensive (small kitchen). Is a proper press absolutely necessary or are there reliable way to jury-rig a cheese press? Any recommendations on newbie-friendly techniques I should consider? Any other advice I can use?
Thanks!
There are a lot of cheeses out there. I'm not sure the process for all of them is the same so it might help to specify.
Fair enough. Essentially, I'm hoping to experiment with different types involving the basics (some variety of whole milk, rennet, seasoning, strain, press, age) and see what I come up with. Basically I guess I'm looking to just dip my toe in with more straightforward varieties to begin with, have fun with it, and see if anyone else has any wisdom/tips/experiences to share.
The simplest cheeses to make only require, at most, some cheesecloth (duh :P). And sometimes not even that.
Something like queso fresco or paneer is dead easy to make.
Has a lot of info on getting into cheesemaking. I've used his instructions for farmer's cheese and mascarpone (and labnah, but that's just drained yogurt) without issues, and with good results.
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MortiousThe Nightmare BeginsMove to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
I'm hoping this is the right thread for this, but I'm seriously considering trying my hand at cheesemaking at home.
I'm confident that I'm familliar enough with the process to have a go at it, but I'm just wondering if any of you have any suggestions on what kind of equipment I should invest in to get started without breaking the bank or being too space-intensive (small kitchen). Is a proper press absolutely necessary or are there reliable way to jury-rig a cheese press? Any recommendations on newbie-friendly techniques I should consider? Any other advice I can use?
Thanks!
There are a lot of cheeses out there. I'm not sure the process for all of them is the same so it might help to specify.
Fair enough. Essentially, I'm hoping to experiment with different types involving the basics (some variety of whole milk, rennet, seasoning, strain, press, age) and see what I come up with. Basically I guess I'm looking to just dip my toe in with more straightforward varieties to begin with, have fun with it, and see if anyone else has any wisdom/tips/experiences to share.
I'd start with making a paneer. Takes 30 minutes, don't need rennet. Only specialized gear is a cheese cloth.
I made a mango chicken curry while I was home for Christmas. My wife said it turned out really good. I also made a vegetarian curry for myself for meal planning for the next week and a half and it ended up extremely hot. I added only one jalapeno chopped up but I added in additional hot curry powder, Indian chile powder, and tumeric. I'm looking for more vegetarian or mostly vegetable centric recipes to add in to my meal planning. Right now I have some pasta recipes and some that sub mushrooms for meat. For health reasons I'm starting to limit, but not eliminate, my red meat intake so I'm looking to replace it with vegetables and other stuff like tofu.
I made a mango chicken curry while I was home for Christmas. My wife said it turned out really good. I also made a vegetarian curry for myself for meal planning for the next week and a half and it ended up extremely hot. I added only one jalapeno chopped up but I added in additional hot curry powder, Indian chile powder, and tumeric. I'm looking for more vegetarian or mostly vegetable centric recipes to add in to my meal planning. Right now I have some pasta recipes and some that sub mushrooms for meat. For health reasons I'm starting to limit, but not eliminate, my red meat intake so I'm looking to replace it with vegetables and other stuff like tofu.
If you haven't done so in the past, I'd suggest playing with cooking mushrooms down separately from anything else in the pan to see what level of cooking you like mushrooms at. They go anywhere from almost raw to almost crunchy depending on how long they get cooked and it has a dramatic impact on the flavor. Most recipes out there do not cook them for anywhere near long enough to get some of the more flavorful levels so if you end up preferring those you might end up cooking them separately in general and adding them in after.
I made a mango chicken curry while I was home for Christmas. My wife said it turned out really good. I also made a vegetarian curry for myself for meal planning for the next week and a half and it ended up extremely hot. I added only one jalapeno chopped up but I added in additional hot curry powder, Indian chile powder, and tumeric. I'm looking for more vegetarian or mostly vegetable centric recipes to add in to my meal planning. Right now I have some pasta recipes and some that sub mushrooms for meat. For health reasons I'm starting to limit, but not eliminate, my red meat intake so I'm looking to replace it with vegetables and other stuff like tofu.
Find or develop your own minestrone recipe. It's just vegetable soup with pasta added. The pasta isn't needed, and I've done batches in the past that use different starch substitutes. You can also potentially alter a chicken pot pie recipe since you can get the same taste without the meat. Maybe add separately-prepared tofu for additional texture.
I had about 1/3 of a leftover Mississippi Pot Roast, with all its drippings and fat. I dumped it into my dutch oven after softening root vegetables and some garlic. Then I added vegetable broth for more liquid and made a stew. When I shut the heat off yesterday it tasted fantastic. I may have my wife toss everything in the crock pot and put it on Low or Keep Warm for dinner later this week.
Edit: only herbs/seasoning added (beyond the drippings from the roast) was bay leaves, thyme, and a little allspice.
Thanks for the suggestions. Right now I'm looking at eggplant recipes on epicurious. There are many I'm thinking about trying like these eggplant "tacos" with brie. Primarily I'm looking for recipes that are easy to make in large quantities and then meal prep for roughly a week worth of pre portioned meals so when I don't feel like cooking something for that meal I can just pull one out of the fridge and eat it cold or reheat it. Because I spent the weekend driving from Florida to Texas and then recovering I'm doing my prep for this week last night and tonight. Last night I made a huge pot of curry, tonight I will be making some vegetarian pasta, some breakfast burritos (egg whites, spinach, onion, bell pepper, potato, on a corn tortilla), and I'm looking at probably one or two more recipes that use mushrooms and eggplant. I'm trying to have a variety of options available so I don't just have a bunch of containers of the same meal in the fridge.
A coq au vin is pretty delicious, and is a stew so it reheats well in my opinion though I don't know how well it would go from frozen to hot all at once. You can definitely par cook the moisture out of eggplant slices and bread/freeze them to save time on eggplant parmesan or crispy sandwiches, but I wouldn't want to put a breaded thing in a microwave.
For meals you can prep ahead and eat on demand, stews, soups, casseroles, chilis, etc are big winners. And there's no shortage of vegetarian options there.
Depends on what you want to do with the cast iron. I have an expensive enamel skillet and a lodge enamel dutch oven.
The oven will last forever because I only use it for bread. The skillet is fantastic but my stovetop burners are awful and it doesn't appropriately distribute heat.
Poor heat distribution is just what cast iron does. It's a fundamental property of the material. It's why your standard half-decent pan has an aluminium (or maybe copper) base or core.
The core benefit of cast iron, enameled or not, is it's heat capacity. It holds a TON of heat and so will not cool down as much when you throw food in it, so it does things like searing better. And it stands up to just throwing ridiculous amounts of heating at it without blinking.
In general if you want to heat your cast iron evenly, throw it in the oven to preheat.
I don't know if I'll ever follow through with it, but if one were to grind/sand down the rough base of a sand casted cast iron pan, how beefy of a grinding wheel would they need?
Depends on what you want to do with the cast iron. I have an expensive enamel skillet and a lodge enamel dutch oven.
The oven will last forever because I only use it for bread. The skillet is fantastic but my stovetop burners are awful and it doesn't appropriately distribute heat.
Poor heat distribution is just what cast iron does. It's a fundamental property of the material. It's why your standard half-decent pan has an aluminium (or maybe copper) base or core.
The core benefit of cast iron, enameled or not, is it's heat capacity. It holds a TON of heat and so will not cool down as much when you throw food in it, so it does things like searing better. And it stands up to just throwing ridiculous amounts of heating at it without blinking.
In general if you want to heat your cast iron evenly, throw it in the oven to preheat.
It's a pretty drastic heat gradient. It's probably the cheapest electric stove ever made. The oven itself is off by around 100 degrees when turned up to 550 (actually gets to a maximum of around 455) it's also off by around 50 degrees when set to 350 (at 350 it heats to just over 400) and I have the only oven in the world that doesn't allow me to adjust the temperature offset.
I'll give the preheat cast iron in the oven thing a try but honestly I have no ventilation and the evacuation fan just blows everything into my face so I don't get to really go crazy with pan temperatures.
I don't know if I'll ever follow through with it, but if one were to grind/sand down the rough base of a sand casted cast iron pan, how beefy of a grinding wheel would they need?
I did some sanding on my Lodge 12" skillet entirely by hand. I think I bought a pack of metal-specific sandpaper that started around 40 grit and went up into the high 200s? The results weren't perfect, but I also only spent about $15 since I didn't want to buy an angle grinder or a heavy duty orbital. After about 10 years of cooking and scraping with a metal spatula, the pan is pretty dang smooth. I have no problems frying eggs in it.
I don't know if I'll ever follow through with it, but if one were to grind/sand down the rough base of a sand casted cast iron pan, how beefy of a grinding wheel would they need?
I did some sanding on my Lodge 12" skillet entirely by hand. I think I bought a pack of metal-specific sandpaper that started around 40 grit and went up into the high 200s? The results weren't perfect, but I also only spent about $15 since I didn't want to buy an angle grinder or a heavy duty orbital. After about 10 years of cooking and scraping with a metal spatula, the pan is pretty dang smooth. I have no problems frying eggs in it.
Good to know! I've got a palm sander so I was thinking of using that to help. And I've got a vibra-tool to get at any stubborn spots.
Depends on what you want to do with the cast iron. I have an expensive enamel skillet and a lodge enamel dutch oven.
The oven will last forever because I only use it for bread. The skillet is fantastic but my stovetop burners are awful and it doesn't appropriately distribute heat.
Poor heat distribution is just what cast iron does. It's a fundamental property of the material. It's why your standard half-decent pan has an aluminium (or maybe copper) base or core.
The core benefit of cast iron, enameled or not, is it's heat capacity. It holds a TON of heat and so will not cool down as much when you throw food in it, so it does things like searing better. And it stands up to just throwing ridiculous amounts of heating at it without blinking.
In general if you want to heat your cast iron evenly, throw it in the oven to preheat.
It's a pretty drastic heat gradient. It's probably the cheapest electric stove ever made. The oven itself is off by around 100 degrees when turned up to 550 (actually gets to a maximum of around 455) it's also off by around 50 degrees when set to 350 (at 350 it heats to just over 400) and I have the only oven in the world that doesn't allow me to adjust the temperature offset.
I'll give the preheat cast iron in the oven thing a try but honestly I have no ventilation and the evacuation fan just blows everything into my face so I don't get to really go crazy with pan temperatures.
That's an appallingly bad stove.
Preheating in the oven shouldn't cause any smoke. The idea is just that the oven will heat the whole pan evenly. Once you get it up to temperature, you move it to the stove top for cooking.
It's not the preheating as much as getting just below smoking temperature on an oil and then tossing in whatever I'm cooking. It's also not a huge cloud of obvious burning food smoke but with no ventilation, I'll make some Potatoes O'Brien for example and when I'm done I'll look out of the kitchen into a haze.
It's not the worst but I've thought about getting a portable burner to just use on my patio.
Question: what are your thoughts on using Omaha Steaks for protein? We are still comparing prices, but this popped into my head the other day while listening to a podcast. They always run specials so I thought you could cherry pick the good deals.
Also there's no sub to manage like there would be with Butcher Box. And while I love bacon, I don't think I'd ever eat that much bacon.
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ChanusHarbinger of the Spicy Rooster ApocalypseThe Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered Userregular
quality wise omaha steaks are fine though i haven’t looked at pricing in a while. i can’t imagine they’re the best value but they might be the most convenient
Every Omaha steak I've had was mediocre at best, and usually more expensive than even the best steaks at the local butcher. They also always kind of look weird out of the package due to the vacuum sealing.
So for thanksgiving we visited family in LA. As part of that we had dinner at our favorite restaurant there, Tar and Roses in Santa Monica, which I like because it’s delicious but also because I learn something every time we go. Of relevance to dinner tonight, was this dish:
Which is/was roasted sunchokes with hazelnuts, goat cheese, and lemon vinaigrette (also chives and lemon zest). We had heard of sunchokes (aka Jerusalem artichokes), but hadn’t tried them. The dish was delightful, and seemed like something we could make at home, if we could find sunchokes in a store somehow.
So, when we happened upon a little box of them at, of all places, H Mart, we decided to give it a shot. Apparently one problem with sunchokes is that they’re a colossal pain to clean, but these were pretty well cleaned, so they saved us a step.
Basically, I sliced them in halves/thirds, tossed with salt and olive oil, roasted at 425 for about 25 minutes, flipping once. Meanwhile, we made this lemon vinaigrette, and toasted some walnuts.
Once everything was ready: sunchokes on a plate, add nuts, add goat cheese, drizzle with vinaigrette, done!
It was delicious! We didn’t quite get the crisped edged the original had, but I think if I cut the pieces a little smaller next time we could get a little more texture out of them. As is, though, you get a nice chewy/crunchy outside but the inside is kind of gooey and melted in a great way. MissNub liked it drizzled with a little honey.
Anyways, it turned out really well. And we’ll definitely be making it again!
VishNub on
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ChanusHarbinger of the Spicy Rooster ApocalypseThe Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered Userregular
vish i hope you made enough for the whole class
Allegedly a voice of reason.
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MortiousThe Nightmare BeginsMove to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
So adventures in mayonnaise have been a series of eggy failures.
I don't like the conventual NZ mayo, so I go out of my way to buy some imported SA mayo, which is a pain and pricey.
But even following the ingredients list as closely as I can (and excluding stabilisers) there's something missing.
So i remembered that my food processor has a grater and tried to make hash browns with it
I’ve been previously making lazy hash browns by microwaving a potato and squashing it flat then pan frying it
But the food processor made PERFECT strands. Ended up pan frying a bunch in butter with salt and cumin and it was great. I needed higher heat and try that with all my leftover shredded potatoes
I’m currently on a low acid diet and potatoes are on there so I’m cooking them a lot more now
Oh, I should have been more clear. It's not a consistancy issue, it emulsifies fine. It's just the favlour profile is wrong, it's missing a certain "something", but for the life of me I can't figure out what.
So i remembered that my food processor has a grater and tried to make hash browns with it
I’ve been previously making lazy hash browns by microwaving a potato and squashing it flat then pan frying it
But the food processor made PERFECT strands. Ended up pan frying a bunch in butter with salt and cumin and it was great. I needed higher heat and try that with all my leftover shredded potatoes
I’m currently on a low acid diet and potatoes are on there so I’m cooking them a lot more now
A trick I found really good for that is to microwave the hashbrowns. If you start with really starchy potatoes (ie - Russets) this will make them kinda dry and sticky, which is what you want because then they fry up super crisp. Just like form your little potato-string patties and give them a quick nuke in the microwave and then fry them.
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MortiousThe Nightmare BeginsMove to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
Lodge is perfectly fine for cast iron and you won't find the pricey brands perform any better. No matter what you pay for it, it's still a hunk of iron. So don't feel funny about heading to the hardware store, wandering into the camping gear aisle, and grabbing the biggest cast iron skillet you can find (bigger is better, in my opinion).
There's very little you can do to cast iron that can't be undone. Hell if your house burned down the cast iron cookware would probably survive. Even if you stripped all the seasoning off and the whole thing rusted over, the rust can be taken off and the seasoning restored.
For cleaning, water and a nylon brush is usually sufficient. If I have something really stubbornly stuck on there, a little Bar Keepers Friend (the powder) does the trick nicely. I find the BKF also knocks out sticky spots that can develop when oil doesn't completely polymerize. However, I use it sparingly and only for the tough jobs as I'm fairly certain it attacks the hardened seasoning too. Mild dishsoap is totally fine though, as an alternative.
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
edited January 2019
Speaking of cast iron, here is a cast iron pizza I made yesterday. Pineapple, green peppers and shallots.
I think I overloaded the toppings a smidge as the edges caramelized much sooner than the middle would have, and I had to pull it before anything could burn. Still, turned out pretty good! Here is the recipe I used:
I used the dough setting on my bread machine to cut out a vast majority of the dicking around with the dough. When the dough cycle was done, I let the dough rest on a flour dusted counter top for 10 minutes, then I formed it into a pizza crust shape. Voilà. Bread machines rule. Oh, also I skipped the crust glaze because honey and cayenne just doesn't sound right to me. I would want to put something buttery and garlicy on there. Maybe I'll figure something out for a future iteration.
I honestly don't understand the purpose of cast iron pan pizza. The function of cast iron is to hold onto heat, but that works to your disadvantage if the pan isn't hot to start with.
@arch mind sharing your pad see yew recipe? (not your beta zoodle recipe therein)
Oh! Yeah, so here's what I did
Freeze and then thaw a block of extra firm tofu.
Drain very well, cut into small cubes, coat with a tablespoon or so of cornstarch and two tablespoons of a vegan hoisin sauce (I used Soy Vey brand).
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, flipping once.
Meanwhile, soak wide rice noodles for 30 minutes and then boil them for 2 (boiling might not be necessary depending on the texture you want and brand of noodles)
Once noodles are softened and tofu is cooked, make the sauce and get ready. For a rather substantial bowl I used
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Hoisin
Chili paste to taste (I used 3 tablespoons)
Pan steam some broccoli florets (add a bit of water into a skillet, add the broccoli and cover for three minutes or so on medium high heat)
Add the tofu and a bit of hoisin and steam for another minute or so
Then, add the noodles, add the sauce, toss together and turn the heat up a bit so that the sauce cooks down and you get a little bit of sear on the noodles
It would probably work better in a wok but I dont have one!
It was very easy if you dont spend an hour trying to make the noodles from scratch....
I honestly don't understand the purpose of cast iron pan pizza. The function of cast iron is to hold onto heat, but that works to your disadvantage if the pan isn't hot to start with.
The cast iron is 500 degrees by the time the dough goes in. Gets you a golden and delicious crispy crust.
I honestly don't understand the purpose of cast iron pan pizza. The function of cast iron is to hold onto heat, but that works to your disadvantage if the pan isn't hot to start with.
I think it's because the pan will still heat faster then the pizza itself and so still transfer lots of heat to the dough.
Posts
Fair enough. Essentially, I'm hoping to experiment with different types involving the basics (some variety of whole milk, rennet, seasoning, strain, press, age) and see what I come up with. Basically I guess I'm looking to just dip my toe in with more straightforward varieties to begin with, have fun with it, and see if anyone else has any wisdom/tips/experiences to share.
The simplest cheeses to make only require, at most, some cheesecloth (duh :P). And sometimes not even that.
Something like queso fresco or paneer is dead easy to make.
https://fankhauserblog.wordpress.com/cheese-making-for-new-folks/
Has a lot of info on getting into cheesemaking. I've used his instructions for farmer's cheese and mascarpone (and labnah, but that's just drained yogurt) without issues, and with good results.
I'd start with making a paneer. Takes 30 minutes, don't need rennet. Only specialized gear is a cheese cloth.
It’s not a very important country most of the time
http://steamcommunity.com/id/mortious
I think ricotta/cottage cheese are similarly easy.
Aging is the hard part, I would guess.
If you haven't done so in the past, I'd suggest playing with cooking mushrooms down separately from anything else in the pan to see what level of cooking you like mushrooms at. They go anywhere from almost raw to almost crunchy depending on how long they get cooked and it has a dramatic impact on the flavor. Most recipes out there do not cook them for anywhere near long enough to get some of the more flavorful levels so if you end up preferring those you might end up cooking them separately in general and adding them in after.
Steam Profile
3DS: 3454-0268-5595 Battle.net: SteelAngel#1772
Find or develop your own minestrone recipe. It's just vegetable soup with pasta added. The pasta isn't needed, and I've done batches in the past that use different starch substitutes. You can also potentially alter a chicken pot pie recipe since you can get the same taste without the meat. Maybe add separately-prepared tofu for additional texture.
I had about 1/3 of a leftover Mississippi Pot Roast, with all its drippings and fat. I dumped it into my dutch oven after softening root vegetables and some garlic. Then I added vegetable broth for more liquid and made a stew. When I shut the heat off yesterday it tasted fantastic. I may have my wife toss everything in the crock pot and put it on Low or Keep Warm for dinner later this week.
Edit: only herbs/seasoning added (beyond the drippings from the roast) was bay leaves, thyme, and a little allspice.
Edit: Coq au vin was the mushroom suggestion.
Poor heat distribution is just what cast iron does. It's a fundamental property of the material. It's why your standard half-decent pan has an aluminium (or maybe copper) base or core.
The core benefit of cast iron, enameled or not, is it's heat capacity. It holds a TON of heat and so will not cool down as much when you throw food in it, so it does things like searing better. And it stands up to just throwing ridiculous amounts of heating at it without blinking.
In general if you want to heat your cast iron evenly, throw it in the oven to preheat.
It's a pretty drastic heat gradient. It's probably the cheapest electric stove ever made. The oven itself is off by around 100 degrees when turned up to 550 (actually gets to a maximum of around 455) it's also off by around 50 degrees when set to 350 (at 350 it heats to just over 400) and I have the only oven in the world that doesn't allow me to adjust the temperature offset.
I'll give the preheat cast iron in the oven thing a try but honestly I have no ventilation and the evacuation fan just blows everything into my face so I don't get to really go crazy with pan temperatures.
I did some sanding on my Lodge 12" skillet entirely by hand. I think I bought a pack of metal-specific sandpaper that started around 40 grit and went up into the high 200s? The results weren't perfect, but I also only spent about $15 since I didn't want to buy an angle grinder or a heavy duty orbital. After about 10 years of cooking and scraping with a metal spatula, the pan is pretty dang smooth. I have no problems frying eggs in it.
Good to know! I've got a palm sander so I was thinking of using that to help. And I've got a vibra-tool to get at any stubborn spots.
That's an appallingly bad stove.
Preheating in the oven shouldn't cause any smoke. The idea is just that the oven will heat the whole pan evenly. Once you get it up to temperature, you move it to the stove top for cooking.
It's not the worst but I've thought about getting a portable burner to just use on my patio.
Anyone use a portable burner?
Also there's no sub to manage like there would be with Butcher Box. And while I love bacon, I don't think I'd ever eat that much bacon.
Which is/was roasted sunchokes with hazelnuts, goat cheese, and lemon vinaigrette (also chives and lemon zest). We had heard of sunchokes (aka Jerusalem artichokes), but hadn’t tried them. The dish was delightful, and seemed like something we could make at home, if we could find sunchokes in a store somehow.
So, when we happened upon a little box of them at, of all places, H Mart, we decided to give it a shot. Apparently one problem with sunchokes is that they’re a colossal pain to clean, but these were pretty well cleaned, so they saved us a step.
Basically, I sliced them in halves/thirds, tossed with salt and olive oil, roasted at 425 for about 25 minutes, flipping once. Meanwhile, we made this lemon vinaigrette, and toasted some walnuts.
Once everything was ready: sunchokes on a plate, add nuts, add goat cheese, drizzle with vinaigrette, done!
It was delicious! We didn’t quite get the crisped edged the original had, but I think if I cut the pieces a little smaller next time we could get a little more texture out of them. As is, though, you get a nice chewy/crunchy outside but the inside is kind of gooey and melted in a great way. MissNub liked it drizzled with a little honey.
Anyways, it turned out really well. And we’ll definitely be making it again!
I don't like the conventual NZ mayo, so I go out of my way to buy some imported SA mayo, which is a pain and pricey.
But even following the ingredients list as closely as I can (and excluding stabilisers) there's something missing.
It’s not a very important country most of the time
http://steamcommunity.com/id/mortious
I’ve been previously making lazy hash browns by microwaving a potato and squashing it flat then pan frying it
But the food processor made PERFECT strands. Ended up pan frying a bunch in butter with salt and cumin and it was great. I needed higher heat and try that with all my leftover shredded potatoes
I’m currently on a low acid diet and potatoes are on there so I’m cooking them a lot more now
I haven’t tried this personally, but serious eats is usually on point. This recipe avoids the rate of drizzle issues you might be having?
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/10/two-minute-mayonnaise.html
Oh, I should have been more clear. It's not a consistancy issue, it emulsifies fine. It's just the favlour profile is wrong, it's missing a certain "something", but for the life of me I can't figure out what.
It’s not a very important country most of the time
http://steamcommunity.com/id/mortious
A trick I found really good for that is to microwave the hashbrowns. If you start with really starchy potatoes (ie - Russets) this will make them kinda dry and sticky, which is what you want because then they fry up super crisp. Just like form your little potato-string patties and give them a quick nuke in the microwave and then fry them.
Could be anything really. I don't know enough to even explain it nevermind actually diagnose it.
I need someone more knowledgeable that I can stuff full of oil and raw eggs until they figure it out.
It’s not a very important country most of the time
http://steamcommunity.com/id/mortious
There's very little you can do to cast iron that can't be undone. Hell if your house burned down the cast iron cookware would probably survive. Even if you stripped all the seasoning off and the whole thing rusted over, the rust can be taken off and the seasoning restored.
For cleaning, water and a nylon brush is usually sufficient. If I have something really stubbornly stuck on there, a little Bar Keepers Friend (the powder) does the trick nicely. I find the BKF also knocks out sticky spots that can develop when oil doesn't completely polymerize. However, I use it sparingly and only for the tough jobs as I'm fairly certain it attacks the hardened seasoning too. Mild dishsoap is totally fine though, as an alternative.
I think I overloaded the toppings a smidge as the edges caramelized much sooner than the middle would have, and I had to pull it before anything could burn. Still, turned out pretty good! Here is the recipe I used:
I used the dough setting on my bread machine to cut out a vast majority of the dicking around with the dough. When the dough cycle was done, I let the dough rest on a flour dusted counter top for 10 minutes, then I formed it into a pizza crust shape. Voilà. Bread machines rule. Oh, also I skipped the crust glaze because honey and cayenne just doesn't sound right to me. I would want to put something buttery and garlicy on there. Maybe I'll figure something out for a future iteration.
and the gengars who are guiding me" -- W.S. Merwin
Oh! Yeah, so here's what I did
Freeze and then thaw a block of extra firm tofu.
Drain very well, cut into small cubes, coat with a tablespoon or so of cornstarch and two tablespoons of a vegan hoisin sauce (I used Soy Vey brand).
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, flipping once.
Meanwhile, soak wide rice noodles for 30 minutes and then boil them for 2 (boiling might not be necessary depending on the texture you want and brand of noodles)
Once noodles are softened and tofu is cooked, make the sauce and get ready. For a rather substantial bowl I used
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Hoisin
Chili paste to taste (I used 3 tablespoons)
Pan steam some broccoli florets (add a bit of water into a skillet, add the broccoli and cover for three minutes or so on medium high heat)
Add the tofu and a bit of hoisin and steam for another minute or so
Then, add the noodles, add the sauce, toss together and turn the heat up a bit so that the sauce cooks down and you get a little bit of sear on the noodles
It would probably work better in a wok but I dont have one!
It was very easy if you dont spend an hour trying to make the noodles from scratch....
@Eddy
The cast iron is 500 degrees by the time the dough goes in. Gets you a golden and delicious crispy crust.
I think it's because the pan will still heat faster then the pizza itself and so still transfer lots of heat to the dough.
Many recipes don't. The no-knead ones most notably, but even the most of the kneaded ones are generally rested in the pan to relax the gluten.