On Topic Discussion Cooking questions

[Alistair]

I don’t eat the ones that are plain pickled eggs. They’re gross. I like the ones that are brined in pickled beet juice.

 

[Kahaih]

I’ve been buying pickled beet eggs from the Amish market and last night when I was eating one I wondered how it would taste deviled. Would it be sacrilegious to devil an Amish made egg?

I'm gassing up just thinking about how delicious that would be. I wouldn't be able to stop without a court order.

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

Would it be sacrilegious to devil an Amish made egg?

Go ahead and do it. Call it a Mennonite egg or something. If you devil it a lot, call it an Episcopalian egg.

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

Well, guys, in order to mollify the kitchen gods, I have made another upside-down peach cobbler.




The first one may have looked a bit prettier, but this one tastes even better.

I let the caramel syrup get darker (i.e., more caramelized), and I simmered the peaches in it for longer in order to boil off more of the liquid so that what was left was thicker, more like a syrup, and coated the peach pieces more.

Then there's what would be the crust or topping if this were a right-side-up cobbler. I didn't follow the recipe for the crust (which involves pulsing the flour and other dry ingredients with sour cream and no water in a food processor, which I don't have). Instead, for both times, I just bought a box of Bisquick and made the biscuit dough with condensed milk rather than regular milk. But this time I added vanilla extract and almond extract to the dough.

And because I pressed out the dough for the crust thinner this time around, I rolled what was left over together and baked it as biscuits.





They are delicious.

 

[fredroy]

That looks awesome.

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

That looks awesome.

It's a bit involved, but really not as hard as I would have thought.

I guess this means I can make a tarte Tatin or two this fall. That's something I had always figured was too difficult or too much trouble.

If I do this with peaches again, I may not even bother with a crust. Just caramelize the fruit and serve it in dessert glasses.

 

[Alistair]

It's a bit involved, but really not as hard as I would have thought.

I guess this means I can make a tarte Tatin or two this fall. That's something I had always figured was too difficult or too much trouble.

If I do this with peaches again, I may not even bother with a crust. Just caramelize the fruit and serve it in dessert glasses.

What about a cherry cobbler?

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

What about a cherry cobbler?

I could, sure, but I don't think cherries would taste particularly good caramelized, which is what I want to do with fruit lately. Besides, the cherries seem to be gone now.

And I make cherry stuff mostly for my best buddy, who wants pies.

(His birthday is Thursday, so I'll be baking him a cherry pie this week. The filling's already made and in the freezer.)

 

[fredroy]

I think "crust" is part of it. Using a box of Jiffy cake mix or Duncan Hines or Bisquick or Pioneer biscuit mix. Because otherwise you just have a pan of caramelized fruit. Which would be tasty over a scoop of ice cream......

 

[fredroy]

I made peach preserves several years ago. Followed the Ball Blu Book directions and well, cooked a bit longer and added a whole lot more Fruit Fresh to get the taste right. Best ever.

I have several jars of tomato preserves. Good stuff. It's cherry tomatoes instead of peaches.

 

[me203]

The first one may have looked a bit prettier, but this one tastes even better.

I personally have never really cared about making stuff that looks pretty. It's intended to be eaten, not look looked at.

Martha Stewart might not approve, but then she has staff to help.

I should probably describe my cooking as "rustic" so that no one would expect it to look perfect!

 

[me203]

I made peach preserves several years ago. Followed the Ball Blu Book directions and well, cooked a bit longer and added a whole lot more Fruit Fresh to get the taste right. Best ever.

When I was probably elementary school aged, my mother made apple butter one time. I don't remember it clearly now, but there was something about it that did stick in my memory at the time. I think I was disappointed she never made it again.

I have several jars of tomato preserves.

Interesting idea!

 

[Alistair]

I could, sure, but I don't think cherries would taste particularly good caramelized, which is what I want to do with fruit lately. Besides, the cherries seem to be gone now.

And I make cherry stuff mostly for my best buddy, who wants pies.

(His birthday is Thursday, so I'll be baking him a cherry pie this week. The filling's already made and in the freezer.)

The recipes that I’ve seen use sour cherries so I don’t know if you’d want to waste expensive sour cherries on a cobbler. Maybe blackberries when they’re in season.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Well, guys, in order to mollify the kitchen gods, I have made another upside-down peach cobbler.

View attachment 2165264

That is really the secret of peach fried pies' stellar popularity over the decades, the concentration of peach flavor resultant from drying peach slices, then reconstituting them as a dry-ish jam so that they don't slop out when eating a hand-pie. It's a double win. Of course, they are not caramelized, so your recipe is a different direction but for like cause.

In my mind's mouth, it wants to see your cake with heavy cream, not whipped as the TV chefs and magazine editors would insist upon, but poured onto the caramelized surface and allowed to sink into the crevices, creating a contrast with the darker "highlands" and creating a more artsy mosaic.

Our generation seems to have left behind that simple, charming method of finishing baked good and fruit, but it is stunningly effective, all the more so to generations who never had it.

Good job on a great dish! Bra-VO!

 

[NotHardUp1]

Go ahead and do it. Call it a Mennonite egg or something. If you devil it a lot, call it an Episcopalian egg.

Or blacken it and call it Anglican.

 

[gsdx]

BAKING TIP: Preheating the Oven

I learned this just this afternoon. When preheating an oven for baking, most people think that the oven is preheated when the preheating light goes off.

It isn't.

When the light goes off, the interior temperature of the oven has reached the desired temperature, but the walls of the oven hasn't. This can affect delicate baking results.

The Solution: When the preheating light turns off, wait another 10-15 minutes to allow the interior walls of the oven to reach temperature before putting your treats into the oven for baking.

 

[The Loner]

 

[rareboy]

BAKING TIP: Preheating the Oven

I learned this just this afternoon. When preheating an oven for baking, most people think that the oven is preheated when the preheating light goes off.

It isn't.

When the light goes off, the interior temperature of the oven has reached the desired temperature, but the walls of the oven hasn't. This can affect delicate baking results.

The Solution: When the preheating light turns off, wait another 10-15 minutes to allow the interior walls of the oven to reach temperature before putting your treats into the oven for baking.

Our new oven has an alarm to tell us when the oven has reached temp, but I like this tip...it makes some sense.

 

[fredroy]

Here's a thing to make. I saved this from The Chef at Worldwide Recipes WAY back in 2006.

My version is to brown some of the chopped in a jar garlic a bit, dump in a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes. Or use two 14 oz cans. Then wave the onion power over the pot or use dried onion. Add a tablespoon-ish of McCormick Italian dried herbs. Stir it up, salt and pepper to taste, maybe toss in some red pepper flakes.

Not saying it's the best ever. It does take some time. It's better than any store bought pasta sauce because there's no "what the fuck is that?" in the ingredients.

Sometimes I add an can of sliced mushroom pieces and an extra 14 oz can of tomatoes.
Sometimes I brown off a pound of Italian sausage and mix it in. Spaghetti one night, lasagna a couple of days later.

I get it put together and on the back burner on very low simmer for a while to get happy.

=====

Many American cooks are under the impression that, in order to
make a proper tomato sauce, you need to have a pot simmering
on the back burner for hours, or even days. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. This simple sauce can be put together in
less time than it takes for the pasta water to boil. Use fresh
tomatoes only if they are the best quality tomatoes available
during the summer tomato season. Otherwise, you're better off
sticking to the canned product. Feel free to "doctor" it with your
own combination of herbs and call it your own personal recipe.

Basic Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 lbs (900 g) ripe tomatoes, peeled if desired, seeded,
and chopped
or 2 cans (15 oz, 425 g each) tomatoes with their liquid
4-6 sprigs fresh basil
4-6 sprigs fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a pot over moderate heat and saute the onion and
garlic until tender but not brown, about 5 minutes. Crush the
tomatoes in your hand before adding them to the pot along with
their liquid. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove
and discard the herbs before serving. Makes about 2 cups (500 ml).

 

[rareboy]

^ We have a couple of similar cheats if it is just the two of us and time is short. Fortunately, we always some fresh onions and roasted garlic on hand and the dried herbs are just fine.