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Anyone have a particularly good recipe for a gluten-free vanilla/white cake? The last recipe I tried ended up tasting okayish, but was pretty dense and almost sticky. I want to do something like these strawberry shortcake cupcakes for my grandma's 90th birthday, but three of my cousins need to eat gluten-free. I will recommend this recipe for gluten-free chocolate cake; I've made it a number of times with great results. The texture is light and fluffy like normal cake, and doesn't need xanthan gum or other additives. I use normal chocolate icing instead of the one in the recipe, though.
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May 14, 2016 03:38
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With about ten years of gluten free baking experience: buy the GF Betty Crocker mix.
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May 14, 2016 03:39
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I got a flyer for Blue Apron in the mail and I'm actually considering it or something similar. Right now I just buy a variety of pre-made meals from the grocery store and mix-n-match them for dinner every night which is a pretty similar concept. But I've been cycling through the same 8 meals for a while now and a bit more variety would be nice. Has anyone used one of these 'mail you pre-portioned ingredients and you just cook them' services? Learning to cook a bunch of different stuff would be pretty cool, or they could all be giant ripoffs  Dallas area if it matters.
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May 14, 2016 08:28
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Takes No Damage posted:I got a flyer for Blue Apron in the mail and I'm actually considering it or something similar. Right now I just buy a variety of pre-made meals from the grocery store and mix-n-match them for dinner every night which is a pretty similar concept. But I've been cycling through the same 8 meals for a while now and a bit more variety would be nice. My roommate does blue apron and she likes it. Sounds like you are at about the target cooking skill level. Seems like everything is in pretty good condition when it arrives and the recipes I've tried tasted good.
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May 14, 2016 08:36
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I have a friend who signed up for a similar scheme, for exactly the reason you are thinking about it, to expand her meal repertoire. In the end, she said she should have just bought some recipe books and picked things to cook, as it would have been a lot cheaper and she'd have learned a lot more. Make of that what you will.
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May 14, 2016 08:54
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Yeah I don't know how much it costs but I bet it is expensive. And you could totally do it yourself by just picking out recipes to make. But I guess it forces you to do it when the box shows up.
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May 14, 2016 09:00
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Or just buy ingredients and make things, I only ever look at recipes for ideas.
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May 14, 2016 09:11
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AVeryLargeRadish posted:Or just buy ingredients and make things, I only ever look at recipes for ideas. I'm glad you ignored the OP's question to make a point about how cool you are not using recipes. He's specifically asking for advice on whether those prepackaged ingredients club things are a good way to help him get out of a rut. "Buy ingredients make things" is not really useful advice...
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May 14, 2016 09:24
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Scientastic posted:I'm glad you ignored the OP's question to make a point about how cool you are not using recipes. I disagree. Learning how to make your own recipes gives you a lot more options than following some rigid set of instructions.
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May 14, 2016 09:43
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Suspect Bucket posted:edit: "My ancestor, Royden Unterhoovel... He was actually exiled out of Holland for carving what was considered rude and suggestive cookie molds, and selling them to the students at the University of Leiden. Aparently, there was some ordinance against that" lmao
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May 14, 2016 09:52
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AVeryLargeRadish posted:I disagree. Learning how to make your own recipes gives you a lot more options than following some rigid set of instructions. It does, but assuming the OP isn't some kind of natural culinary savant, it's probably a good idea to start by following recipes to get a grasp of the techniques involved in cooking before saying "gently caress it" and shoving whatever looks tasty into a frying pan and hoping for the best.
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May 14, 2016 10:33
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Gerblyn posted:It does, but assuming the OP isn't some kind of natural culinary savant, it's probably a good idea to start by following recipes to get a grasp of the techniques involved in cooking before saying "gently caress it" and shoving whatever looks tasty into a frying pan and hoping for the best. I have the opposite experience, every time I try to follow a recipe instead of just cooking I end up with mediocre results, the only exception being baking for some reason.
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May 14, 2016 10:56
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AVeryLargeRadish posted:I have the opposite experience, every time I try to follow a recipe instead of just cooking I end up with mediocre results, the only exception being baking for some reason. You probably have a very good sense for what flavors go well with each other? My personal experience is that it's better to follow other people's recipes at least once, and then start improvising once I have a good feel for what they did and why it worked (or didn't). The few times I've just said "let's see what happens if put this in this" have gone badly!
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May 14, 2016 11:34
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I liken it to photography. Most people need to understand the rules of the system before they can even start to bend or break them; rules and guidelines for composition, lighting, focal length etc. However some people just have an intuition for it and can basically wing it with good results. To these intuitive people it comes naturally, so it's hard to relate to people who need structure and guidance. Cooking wise I'm also one of those who can just use recipe for inspiration, but it's more of an extension of engineering to me. I understand the individual processes and I have a good mind for flavours and putting them together in my head but I understand that a lot of people cant. Perseverance and quashing your fear of experimentation and failure is a great thing to have, but not realistic for people who need to put food on the table on a budget, especially if others are depending on them to be fed that night. Suspect Bucket posted:"I asked her to make me a plain cookie..." Yeah sorry about that. I should have put a warning about how compelling that show can be. I've seen many an otherwise productive evening swallowed by Mr. Underhill's dad jokes and speed-trad-woodworking antics.
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May 14, 2016 11:54
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Takes No Damage posted:I got a flyer for Blue Apron in the mail and I'm actually considering it or something similar. Right now I just buy a variety of pre-made meals from the grocery store and mix-n-match them for dinner every night which is a pretty similar concept. But I've been cycling through the same 8 meals for a while now and a bit more variety would be nice. I've done Blue Apron once and Hello Fresh once. Hello Fesh has simpler (palate-wise) meals and they don't block you from picking all of the most expensive ones (I had a coupon from a friend and am cheap as gently caress. I'm not paying anyone for pasta send me lamb and beef). I had a Blue Apron box come in the day I got back from a 2-week vacation and it was a life saver. Sure, you feel lovely opening a little package with like 5 almonds and another little package with a half tablespoon of butter, but in your case I'd recommend doing it at least once. It will get you in the habit of cooking from scratch instead of buying pre-made meals. If you're pretty basic and just want a kick in the rear end to get out a pan and cook, I'd recommend Hello Fresh. If you are pretty comfortable cooking and want to get new ideas or techniques, then do Blue Apron. If you PM me I might be able to send you a code for Hello Fresh. (Edit: you don't have PMs so email me at detectivemonkeysa@gmail.com)
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May 14, 2016 12:44
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I wanna make the banana bread recipe you posted a few pages back DefectiveMonkey, but I don't have any bourbon. Do you think Courvoisier might be a good alternative? I also have Martini, Cointreu, Grappa and Kirsch...
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May 14, 2016 13:03
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Gerblyn posted:I wanna make the banana bread recipe you posted a few pages back DefectiveMonkey, but I don't have any bourbon. Do you think Courvoisier might be a good alternative? I also have Martini, Cointreu, Grappa and Kirsch... Cointreau is great in pound cake but not banana bread. I've never tried Courvoisier but if it tastes more vanilla-y than citrus-y then I would use it. Even if it's a lemony citrus it would be good. Cointreau is way too orange for banana bread but, again, definitely do it in a plain pound cake. With some sliced almonds on top.
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May 14, 2016 13:57
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defectivemonkey posted:Cointreau is great in pound cake but not banana bread. I've never tried Courvoisier but if it tastes more vanilla-y than citrus-y then I would use it. Even if it's a lemony citrus it would be good. Cointreau is way too orange for banana bread but, again, definitely do it in a plain pound cake. With some sliced almonds on top. Well, the batter without any booze tasted pretty good, so I just chucked that into the oven. I'll see how it worked in an hour!
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May 14, 2016 14:12
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I like to use Fireball in my banana bread, I have a handle on hand (haha) just for it actually. The recipe works fine without any booze though, you'll be fine. 
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May 14, 2016 14:15
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Banana bread with kirsch would be interesting to try. *makes mental note
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May 14, 2016 14:16
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LOL at the idea of grappa or martini in banana bread. Re: Blue Apron, I've done it and while I felt sort of silly the whole time, it was pretty convenient and the recipes are a good springboard if you are stuck in a rut. They were pretty simple yet interesting and tasty. It's also nice that everything comes in the right portion. Like I'm sure you can peruse a cookbook and go buy most if not all of the ingredients, but then you have to figure out what to do with the 3/4 of a cabbage, six other carrots, rest of the chicken, five bundles of soba noodles, etc. Not that this is hard, but it's about convenience. It's good for lazy/busy people who don't mind paying for convenience. It's a good medium between grocery shopping/home cooking and take out in terms of effort and time spent.
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May 14, 2016 15:20
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I am making some fried chicken tonight. I've brined enough chicken for a bunch of people but a bunch of people had to cancel. I figured that I could just coat the chicken and then freeze it right? I reckon that deep frying frozen poo poo can be dangerous but I a) have a blast guard b) have an electric stove so poo poo just won't catch fire. But I just wanted to triple check that this was an okay plan. Bread the extras and then freeze them for another day. I'll mention that leftover fried chicken is one of the best things in the world, but I've already accounted for that in my original calcualations.
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May 14, 2016 15:38
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Phil Moscowitz posted:LOL at the idea of grappa or martini in banana bread. Now you see why I'm wary of trusting my instincts wrt experimenting with food  Anyways, the Banana Bread owns bones! Nice recipe Monkey. bollig posted:I reckon that deep frying frozen poo poo can be dangerous but I a) have a blast guard b) have an electric stove so poo poo just won't catch fire. It's not dangerous, at least not in that sense. It's water and ice which os dangerous to get into a deep fat frier, since they hit the oil, sink and then flash boil. The boiling water expands very fast and effectively explodes out of the frier, spraying oil everywhere.
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May 14, 2016 16:00
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bollig posted:I am making some fried chicken tonight. I've brined enough chicken for a bunch of people but a bunch of people had to cancel. I figured that I could just coat the chicken and then freeze it right? I would not worry too much about the frozen fried chicken causing an explosion or anything, I've deep fried frozen stuff before and I've never had that problem, as long as there is not actual frozen droplets of water on the outside it should be ok. The real problem is that the chicken might not cook through since it will take longer for the heat to penetrate the chicken what with it being frozen, it might be ok if you use one of the par-cooking methods for fried chicken but if you are coating it raw you will need to be careful about doneness. Gerblyn posted:You probably have a very good sense for what flavors go well with each other? My personal experience is that it's better to follow other people's recipes at least once, and then start improvising once I have a good feel for what they did and why it worked (or didn't). The few times I've just said "let's see what happens if put this in this" have gone badly! I guess I must have a good sense for what flavors work together or something because the whole statement of "let's see what happens if put this in this" is confusing to me because I would never put something in without knowing what would happen because it's always obvious to me what would happen well ahead of time, I just assumed everyone is like that. That's sort of depressing. 
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May 14, 2016 17:22
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AVeryLargeRadish posted:I would not worry too much about the frozen fried chicken causing an explosion or anything, I've deep fried frozen stuff before and I've never had that problem, as long as there is not actual frozen droplets of water on the outside it should be ok. The real problem is that the chicken might not cook through since it will take longer for the heat to penetrate the chicken what with it being frozen, it might be ok if you use one of the par-cooking methods for fried chicken but if you are coating it raw you will need to be careful about doneness. Yeah doneness is my main concern now. Thanks.
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May 14, 2016 18:47
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AVeryLargeRadish posted:I guess I must have a good sense for what flavors work together or something because the whole statement of "let's see what happens if put this in this" is confusing to me because I would never put something in without knowing what would happen because it's always obvious to me what would happen well ahead of time, I just assumed everyone is like that. That's sort of depressing. I mean I'm not saying that's necessarily it. But I've often had the experience where I put together something and it works out almost but not quite the way I want it and I'm like gently caress, that's a goddamn mess but everyone else trying it thinks its great. And I don't think I have amazing flavour acuity or whatever the gently caress, it's just that that's the way I approach something I've made, while other people don't necessarily come at things as analytically (or whatever you want to call it).
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May 14, 2016 19:24
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SubG posted:Culinary genius is one possibility, but it's also possible that your palate isn't as sensitive as Gerblyn's. So something you're scoring as a pass he might think of as a disaster. Maybe, but I also have the same experience of having something come out not quite as I want it and when I ask others about what I am dissatisfied with they are clueless and think there is nothing wrong. But back to the original point, I just think that recipes are pretty limiting and if you just follow lists and instructions it's harder to understand why and how various ingredients and techniques work together.
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May 14, 2016 20:11
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I have been wondering recently if there is a more effective method for learning how to cook than just cooking allot. Me and my friends will get together each month to make a different countries dishes and I try and experiment with new recipes and my own modifications in my personal cooking, so I definitely try to vary it up. I have just been curious if there is something I should be practicing or mastering that would improve my abilities with other dishes better than just trying a bunch of different recipes. Right now I just grab recipes off online (or do stuff like stir-fry and try new ingredients) or use a recipe out of How to Cook Everything: The Basics once in a blue moon. Should I maybe just focus on the recipes in the one cookbook I have and see how well I can master those few? Or just grind eggs till I get my fry skill to 100.
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May 14, 2016 20:29
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Thanks for the replies everyone.Phil Moscowitz posted:It's good for lazy/busy people who don't mind paying for convenience. It's a good medium between grocery shopping/home cooking and take out in terms of effort and time spent. This is pretty much me. I'm an engineer, so I'm really good at following written directions. But I'm an engineer, so my creative/artistic juices are somewhat lacking. And since I've never really cooked for myself the idea of just going out and buying raw ingredients seems somewhat daunting, mostly for the reasons you mentioned. I'll do some more research and try one of the services with the hopes I can use it as a springboard to being able to generally cook at least simple things. e: vvv That's my goal Also I assume this isn't a unique code, so if anyone wants to pretend to be a NewEgg shopper you can get 20bux off your first BlueApron order at https://blueapron.com/inb038, good through August.
Takes No Damage fucked around with this message at 23:25 on May 14, 2016 |
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May 14, 2016 22:41
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Takes No Damage posted:Thanks for the replies everyone. Sounds like a good choice for you. You'll learn what ingredients go well together and the sight, smell, and sound cues of cooking, which you can translate into other foods. As an engineer, don't feel shy about keeping a cooking log - I cooked x at y for z, it came out this way, next time I will try cooking for z+1.
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May 14, 2016 23:00
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It might also be worth it to look for a copy of The Food Lab or Cooking for Geeks; the latter especially is oriented at that sort of science-over-art mindset.
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May 14, 2016 23:24
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Takes No Damage posted:Thanks for the replies everyone. Have you done much baking? It lends a little more to being exact / precise for many applications. You might enjoy it.
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May 15, 2016 00:25
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then you will want to make things to go with your bread and the world opens up
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May 15, 2016 00:43
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I have a pork loin that I would like to use for a roulade, any suggested fillings to roll up into it? I'll likely be searing and roasting it, but besides that I don't have any special plans or sides.
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May 15, 2016 00:52
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Invisible Ted posted:I have a pork loin that I would like to use for a roulade, any suggested fillings to roll up into it? I'll likely be searing and roasting it, but besides that I don't have any special plans or sides. Nuts like walnuts or pecans, fruit like apples or thinly sliced dates, cheese like crumbly goat's cheese or feta, blanched and squeezed out spinach, finely chopped mushroom, garlic, the list goes on. For instance you could do finely chopped walnuts, apples and crumbly goat cheese.
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May 15, 2016 01:15
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That Works posted:Have you done much baking? I haven't done much of anything, but you're right I would imagine baking would be pretty heavy on 'measure out x amount of y ingredient, combine like so and bake at this temp for that time. It's more that most of the things I would bake would be brownies and cakes, and I don't need any more of that mess in my diet right now... According to the website I should get a box of soy-glazed meatballs, seared chicken & verjus pan sauce and red curry and coconut shrimp stir fry next Saturday. I don't even know what some of those words mean so I should expand my culinary experience pretty rapidly if I keep up with this.
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May 15, 2016 01:45
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Be sure to grab a $1.50 oven thermometer, you might be surprised at what your oven thinks is 350ºF.
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May 15, 2016 01:50
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Ingenium posted:I have been wondering recently if there is a more effective method for learning how to cook than just cooking allot. Me and my friends will get together each month to make a different countries dishes and I try and experiment with new recipes and my own modifications in my personal cooking, so I definitely try to vary it up. I have just been curious if there is something I should be practicing or mastering that would improve my abilities with other dishes better than just trying a bunch of different recipes. Right now I just grab recipes off online (or do stuff like stir-fry and try new ingredients) or use a recipe out of How to Cook Everything: The Basics once in a blue moon. Should I maybe just focus on the recipes in the one cookbook I have and see how well I can master those few? Or just grind eggs till I get my fry skill to 100. I think having a diverse culinary context is more important than doing one thing forever until you're perfect at it. Every time you cook a new type of food you get exposed to different ingredients, pairings, and techniques and having a broad knowledge of that is a solid foundation. At least for me, and I find this in just about every aspect of my life, is if I move on from a not-quite-perfect dish (or a hard work problem), when I return to it I make more progress faster than if I stick with it. I think it's part knowledge and experience, and part giving yourself time to abandon your previous assumptions and start over again. And I'd advocate going out of your comfort zone for your regular day-to-day meals as well. Make a big pot of curry for one week, then make some cassoulet another, then do something you've made a million times again and it may just come out better because you're thinking slightly differently about it. Edit: I think this is good advice if you're making edible food every time you do your monthly cooking session, but if you're struggling to produce anything edible every time (these things happen to the best of us), then it may be best to focus on a few 'easy' dishes to cook first. Eeyo fucked around with this message at 03:41 on May 15, 2016 |
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May 15, 2016 03:37
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Eeyo posted:I think having a diverse culinary context is more important than doing one thing forever until you're perfect at it. Every time you cook a new type of food you get exposed to different ingredients, pairings, and techniques and having a broad knowledge of that is a solid foundation. Thanks for the response! I thankfully do tend to make edible food (though I will admit that the meat can sometimes be chewy) but I will admit I tend to stick to my own tastes. I am a large fan of spice heavy dishes, such as rendang which I discovered last week, which does get me a bit stuck in a corner. I do want to learn more baking but I have had a hard time finding somewhat healthy meals for a bachelor to bake. I did find toad in a hole which is pretty great but I need to find maybe some more savory baking dishes.
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May 15, 2016 07:14
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What exactly is "Tanuki Soba"? Does anyone have a recipe for it?
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May 15, 2016 10:47
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