when we talk about simple easy bland comfort foods. buttered rice + soy sauce is the asian equivalent of buttered noodles/pasta + parmesan other examples are buttered toast and mashed potatoes. aloo paratha with ghee. what are some more of these foods from different cultures?

I need to know if I can use table cream instead of all purpose cream because bo one sells it near me.

Can anyone suggest dishes that can serve 6-8 people? I have a crushed potato pie (recipe at the end of this as a trade-off) but I can only bring that dish so many times before people go ">:/" at it y'know? I just want to build up a uhhhhhhhhhh collection :)

Crushed Potato Pie Recipe:

Ingredients:

3-4 medium potatoes (or at least enough to cover the entire bottom of the baking dish)
half of a red onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 large eggs
preferred amount of mozzarella (or really any cheese you would want)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1.5 cups of whole milk
4 oz of cream cheese
4 small (NOT CHERRY TOMATOES, THE SLIGHTLY BIGGER SMALL TOMATOES LIKE PLUM TOMATOES) tomatoes, sliced
A fistful of parsley (idk man, how does one measure that??)
preferred amount of wilted spinach (frozen is fine)
salt (or an all purpose seasoning with salt)
black pepper
olive oil

Steps:

0) Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C)
1) Put water in a large pot to boil with some salt
- or prepare a pot to boil potatoes
2) While the water boils, prep your vegetables: tomatoes=slices, onion=slices, garlic=minced, parsley=chopped, potatoes=washed (LEAVE THE SKIN ON)
3) When the water is ready, put the potatoes into the water and boil them for 20-25 minutes
4) Make egg mixture: In a bowl, add 2 eggs, 1 cups of milk, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 4oz cream cheese, minced garlic, parsley, and all purpose seasoning, and mix until incorporated
(Note, you can put this in the fridge after while you do the other steps)
5) When the potatoes are boiled, remove them from pot and put in baking dish, with a potato masher (or really whatever you would use to crush a potato) and smash potatoes until a bed is formed (avoid gaps, like you should not be able to see the dish).
6) on the mashed potatoes, drizzle olive oil, black pepper, and adobo (or some sort of all purpose seasoning)
7) bake the potato crust for 15-25 minutes
7) Remove crust from oven and place a bed of mozzarella (or whatever cheese you choose), tomatoes, onion, spinach
8) Pour egg mixture into the crust over the other toppings
9) Bake for 30-45 minutes (or until the center is slightly jiggly when shaken)
10) Let rest for a few minutes
11) Serve the pie

I've learned white popcorn is better than yellow because it has a smaller hull and it's generally a more tender popcorn. But I have tried different brands of popcorn - Orville Redenbacher, Jiffy Pop (just the kernels) and store brands from different stores. But I still struggle with popcorn that's just harder to chew - not as bad as yellow popcorn, but still not ideal.

What's the trick to making good popcorn on the stove? I will not use a microwave.

I am looking at some advice to cook Japanese grilled mackerel

I have been trying to reproduce the taste from a small restaurant that i tried in Japan but to no avail.

So far i followed this recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wblS0sZR3pY

It's a good recipe, the fish tastes good and it looks like the one that i tried in the restaurant but it's missing some extra flavor on the skin. i remember the skin having an umami and maybe a bit oily (in a good way) flavor but i am not sure how to describe it.

I think in the restaurant they must add a bit of oil, sake or a marinade to the skin once it's cooked.

i tried marinating in more sake and overnight but it didn't add much flavor so i am thinking it's something to add after grilling?

Edit 1: so i just tried u/Fuzzy_Welcome8348 suggestion :

Brush skin light w mix of sesame oil&splash soy sauce/sake right after grill. Will boost flavor w/o overpowering fish

And that was definitively a great improvement! not sure if this is what they do in a restaurant but it's good enough for me at home!
I will try the other suggestions as well over time but i would definitely recommend this! i would just suggest to really go light on the mix. i used very little and it changed the flavor a lot!

I will be hosting 12-15 of Hub‘s coworkers and I’ve done it all before for them, brisket, ribs, steaks, potatoes, corn, pasta salads, smoked pork...and I want to do something new but not sure what. I was thinking of a taco night or breakfast for dinner/ breakfast bar but could use some ideas if anyone feels generous enough to share. TYIA!

I picked up this sauce at a nearby Italian market because it sounded like an interesting combo and I love figs! It’s sweet and savory but leans a little more sweet. Usually, I’m good with pairing ingredients but I’m a little stumped on this one. Does anyone know of any dishes that use this type of sauce or suggestions on what to pair it with?

I cooked some chicken breast that I had seasoned and let set overnight. I seared it then let it slow cook for 2 hours or so. It's dry and bland AF. What did I do wrong? Is there any way to come back at this point? Letting it cool. Thinking about chopping for chicken salad. But afraid it's too dry. 🤕😰

I used to really love cooking as a kid and teenager, and would often get really excited when I had the chance to cook for family and friends. Along the way, something changed and now I really don’t like cooking. I really WANT to like it, I love looking at recipes and reading about different cultures and different foods. But after I’ve done all the shopping necessary (which is expensive for recipes?) prepped the food, tried to cook it, and cleaned up the whole mess…I just don’t have enough energy to like it. Oftentimes i don’t even like the food I cooked.

I lost a couple of hobbies when I started showing signs of depression, and the fatigue only gives me so much energy to do the things I want/need to do during the day. I can function fine, but I often struggle with fatigue, which makes it hard to really enjoy cooking. I guess I really just want to feel curious and passionate about it again. I don’t know where to start. Advice appreciated, but please be gentle.

What vacuum containers are people using? We have a FoodSaver, but their food saver containers might last a year but that's optimistic. We landed on one container set that has a inbuilt pump in each container, but they don't sell them anymore; they were great. What containers are you using? Bonus points of compatible with FoodSaver...

Hi Friends

I am looking for some new stainless steel cookware. It doesn't have to be a set but I want a quality 12 inch pan and a smaller skillet and also a wok. Can you recommend what you are using and why do you like it? I know how to use stainless but I am ready to upgrade. Thanks!!

I want to start cooking more and making meal prep. I’m not fussy with food, so I’m happy to try any sweet or savoury.

High calorie / protein would be a plus though :)

Thankyou!

I have been experimenting with reverse spherification with some success.  I would like to try and "elevate" the technique and wondered if any one had tried colouring and / or adding flavour to the sodium alginate bath.  I was thinking that would enhance the overall  flavour and visual appeal.  I know that with indirect spherification you can mix the flavourful liquid with the sodium alginate, but I'm wanting to keep the inside liquid so need to do reverse spherification.  Does adding anything to the sodium alginate bath effect its gelling properties?  I am curious that I haven't come across any recipes which suggest adding colour / flavour to the bath as that seems like a no brainer as otherwise the gel coating is kind of bland.  I was wondering if that is because it doesn't gel properly when the Calcium doped flavourful liquid is dropped in.

Growing up Lutheran there was a certain time of year that I always looked forward to, Autumn.

That's when the ladies of our church would get together and make Schnitzel in our church kitchen. It's NOT actually a Schnitzel, obviously. There's no meat, or breading.

It's a flat piece of dough, typically sliced into diamond/triangle shapes, then deep fried and dusted (though I always preferred more of a dumped on effect) with powdered sugar.

There is NO food savory nor sweet that I miss more, that makes me happier, than Schnitzels.

Unfortunately, I cannot find the recipe. I had it about 15 years ago and lost it since. The internet is no help, at all. While I love actual Schnitzel, it's not what I'm looking for and the internet at large just can't seem to understand the difference. Hopefully there is someone in the Reddit-verse that does and might have a recipe to share. Thanks for your time.

Plus meat is getting so expensive it's a little unreal.

The past few months i’ve completely lost my ability to enjoy meat. I get nauseous and feel like everything meat-related is inedible. Sometimes I can stomach ground beef, but it has to be very hidden in something. If I get a sudden change of texture, see a vein, gristle, fat, or anything inconsistent, I get sick. I was vegetarian for 9 years as a child into my teenage years, but I went back to eating meat at 19, and i’m now 25. I had no issues for a very long time, and now I am completely sickened. I really love the taste, but the second I get a weird texture or see something unappealing, I lose my ability to eat. Is there any way to fix this? I cannot afford to be vegetarian, and really want to enjoy meat as usual again.

In my hometown there was this wonderful little family owned Chinese place (owned and ran by Vietnamese, nonetheless).

They had fried chicken wings that were absolutely delicious. Whole wings. This was a decade before "buffalo wings" (cut into two pieces) became a national thing.

Anyhow, they were sweet, savory, and salty. Definitely had soy sauce. They would pull them out of a plastic tub of marinade and drop them straight in the fryer. The marinade was cloudy but fairly dark so I am guessing it was soy sauce, sugar, corn starch and whatever else (msg?).

They were somewhat crispy but not thick breaded.

I have tried to replicate this without deep frying them but just can't seem to bake them crispy.

Any tips? I cannot use MSG, my wife has really bad reactions to it.

We just got one of these and while it's like 10x more convenient than the old ones, I feel like my microwave is running differently. Things are cooking faster and there' s a different sound when it's on too. I was really curious as to how these worked since the metal of magnets isn't supposed to be able to go in a microwave, but is it actually bad for your microwave?

Already purchase a very large eggplant and don’t want to use salt to remove the bitterness. Is there another quick method? I plan to just peel, slice and grill it. Thx!

Update: tried the milk method and while everyone ate it - it was definitely mushier than normal.

To cook a roasted prime rib I use the technique where I roast at 500 degrees for 5 min/lb and then turn the oven off, leave it in there for 2 hours. Would this same technique work for a boneless leg of lamb?

So weird but my Salter 1085BK measures ounces spot on but not grams. I’ve done the whole, “Take out the batteries, press on the base, reinsert the batteries” thang and still get the same results. A 32 ounce portion of sugar, packaged in plastic, reads 32.1 oz. but 937 g. What the what? Any ideas or shall I shovel prune the unit and look for its replacement?

Hi guys!!!

I was in Italy for a 2 weeks for vacations. I bought a guanciale because I love cooking and making a good and original carbonara. It turns out that I unpacked the guanciale and it's moldy. Can I recover it by cleaning off the mold, or is it spoiled and better to throw it away?

Photo: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wXPRvy6nhjmj15SbA

I've already read Salt Fat Acid Heat (LOVED it, improved my cooking so much) and The Food Lab (didn't like it, way too detailed and technical).

What should I read next?

Just bought a frozen lobster tail today, put it in the freezer around 11am. Just checked the freezer at 4pm and the freezer door was open ajar, the lobster tails feel like they started to thaw,

My plan was to eat them Friday. Should I freeze them and wait or is the damage done and I need to eat them