The Frying Pan

It is sad, the supermarkets here usually only carry dill, parsley and chives as fresh herbs. Practically anything else has to be searched with a magnifying glass. The turkish groceries are somewhat better, they have spearmint too. Or sometimes peppermint. Both times labeled just "mint".

rfusca

lol ya

rumtscho

12:07 AM

@rfusca Somewhat similar to celery, but with a earthier, more rounded taste, less sharp.

rfusca

ic

rumtscho

Great for hearty soups.

Can you get fresh herbs in American supermarkets?

rfusca

in good ones, yes

a few at someplace like walmart, but they're not very good and quite expensive there

rumtscho

The funny thing is, in Bulgaria you can get the less exotic fresh herbs at the German discounters, like thyme or oregano.

In Germany, you can't get them even frozen, only dried.

Taste Five

Wow looks like I missed alot. Well I am off to go make dinner. You guys have a good one.

rfusca

5:58 AM

wow, ran across a movie on netflix with gordon ramsey as an actor....that guy can't act in a movie or such,it comes off as too intense

Mien

7:57 AM

@rfusca He played in sponge bob :p

rfusca

5:08 PM

There's a near obession with AB and Good Eats on this site.

Mien

@rfusca I agree completely!

I've never watched Good Eats though

But I will

Anyway, dinner's ready, bbl

rfusca

5:25 PM

@Mien its a good show and there's some good food science on it

hobodave

5:47 PM

0

A: Should cooking with drugs (legal or illegal) questions be on topic?

Legality The issue of legality is not the focus. Laws change, and what's legal in one place can be illegal in the next. For this reason, the legality of a drug should have nothing to do with determining whether a question is on topic or not. Definition of Drugs I guess we could try to use a wh...

rfusca

@hobodave agreed. It really comes down to cost and benefit. I just don't see that the benefit of accepting the questions outweighing the potential cost of losing users.

I modified my original meta answer to represent a bit of a compromise, but my personal opinion is that i'm hardcore against it.

Mien

Personally, I have nothing against those question

But I'm not replying because I understand the implications for the site

if you know what I mean

hobodave

another thing that didn't occur to me, but we might end up getting our site caught in nanny filters used by schools/employers if we had drugs as a topic

rfusca

right

@hobodave too true

hobodave

I'm 99% confident this wouldn't be an issue if it were cocaine butter

rfusca

6:00 PM

ditto

Mien

nanny filters => so you can't visit the site on a school computer?

or what is that?

@hobodave Then I would be against that as well

hobodave

@Mien yes

Mien

okay

rfusca

@Mien filters and blocks based on words or predefined black list of sites. The idea being at work or school you shouldn't be visiting be certain sites

Mien

yes, like porn and stuff

rfusca

6:02 PM

ya

Taste Five

6:21 PM

hello everyone

rfusca

howdy

Mien

hi @TasteFive

rfusca

@Mien - what was dinner btw?

Mien

halibut with mashed potato, white beans in tomato sauce, some leftover salad and aubergines with ham and cheese

You always ask when we eat fish :p

rfusca

lol

i'm not much of a fish eater

Mien

6:24 PM

I wasn't when I was little

Now I've learnt to eat it

I don't really like it, but I eat it, it's healthy as hell

or so they say :)

rfusca

indeed

my problem is that its too $$

Mien

I think we eat it once a week or once every two weeks

there is a lot of difference, I think, in price

but that's also the case with meat

Taste Five

@rfusca that is my issue as well, i would eat it every day if I could

Mien

although, fish is indeed more expensive, in general

I still live with my parents, they have money

You want to eat fish? Come to Belgium!

rfusca

lol

Taste Five

6:27 PM

@Mien I'm there :)

Mien

I don't know if there is a lot difference US - Belgium in price for fish

@TasteFive I don't see you

Taste Five

Its definitely on my list of places to go.

rfusca

i don't know, but like chicken is waaaay cheaper than any other protein

Taste Five

@rfusca yep chicken is the bugdet meat here

and it is my least favorite

rfusca

indeed

generally in terms of cost: chicken < pork < beef < lamb < fish

but lamb and fish switch around depending on sales and cuts

Taste Five

6:30 PM

veal is up there as well

rumtscho

hello

Taste Five

@rumtscho whats up

rfusca

oh definitely, we just never buy veal

i literally don't know if i ever have

Taste Five

@rfusca I just cant give it up

rfusca

i'll eat it out, but i don't think i've ever fixed it

rumtscho

6:31 PM

@TasteFive I'm eating a fruit salad while the stew is slowly simmering on the stovetop

Mien

@rfusca I think that's about the same here

Taste Five

@rumtscho Nice. I hope it works out.

rfusca

@rumtscho its funny, pretty much all the answers said to stew it in some form or fashion

Mien

I ate veal and I think it was about 20 euro per kg, so +- 15 dollars per pond

or how do you count?

rumtscho

I found quite good apples at the organic supermarket on our block, now they are in my fruit salad.

rfusca

6:32 PM

nice

rumtscho

And because I have to make that apple cheesecake for next week

rfusca

i think its Orange Chicken for dinner tonight

rumtscho

does anybody know if the apples from the sort "Elstar" cook well?

rfusca

@rumtscho still planning on making it? awesome

Taste Five

@rumtscho not familiar with those, sorry.

rfusca

6:33 PM

its a common dessert apple according to wikipedia, so i'd think so

rumtscho

@rfusca I have to make something for the occasion. I just asked you early for the recipe because you seemed like a reliable source.

Mien

@rumtscho Sure, they are rather sweet, I think

I mostly use Jonagold apples

rfusca

@rumtscho muwahahaha my evil plan worked

Mien

But if I'm not mistaken, the peel of Elstars is rather tough, so be sure to remove it

@rumtscho What occasion? :)

rumtscho

@rfusca If there really was an evil plan, you wouldn't have mentioned it until I showed up in chat at 1 AM of the evening before and asked you what I'm doing wrong.

rfusca

6:35 PM

;P

@rumtscho this site indicates it may be too soft for baking well foodsubs.com/Apples.html

rumtscho

@Mien Our chair has a "chair brunch" once a semester. We invite our thesis students and research assistants and cook for everybody.

rfusca

"Softer apples are best for applesauce, while firmer apples are best for baking and making pies. ....Best for applesauce: ... Elstar..."

rumtscho

Hmm. I don't know how soft it is.

It is very crispy.

Golden delicious are much mushier than this one.

On the other hand, maybe I like it exactly because it is a crispy apple, and after baking it won't be crispy anymore, so probably it won't be so great in the cheesecake.

rfusca

...

Mien

@rumtscho Maybe this is a tip (I just invented it)

use a bit larger pieces, so they won't turn to mush

or wouldn't this work?

rumtscho

6:42 PM

I must confess that I don't cook with apples much, so I don't know how to choose suitable ones.

If I don't forget to, I could go to the market and ask the seller. But in the supermarket, the people just don't know enough about the stuff they are selling.

rfusca

very true

rumtscho

Two months ago, I needed peanut butter.

OK, it isn't as popular here as in the USA, but still.

Mien

If I look for videos of apple pie and stuff, I mostly see granny smith, but I don't like that one very much

rumtscho

I asked an employee where the PB is.

rfusca

0

Q: What can I use a tempered glass pot for?

I've recently been thinking about what I can get rid of in my kitchen, and I've been debating throwing out a tempered glass pot like this (without the lid): http://i.stack.imgur.com/xSVdD.jpg (Apologies about the link, I don't have enough reputation to post images yet.) It's a piece of Pyrex Vis...

cookware

rumtscho

6:43 PM

She said "butter is over there"

rfusca

isn't glass a terrible heat conductor?

Mien

lol :p

rfusca

@rumtscho lol

Mien

I would've looked where the jam and the chocolate paste is etc

rumtscho

I thought she hadn't heard it, and said "I meant peanut butter, not dairy butter"

And she said "All the butter is over there" and went away.

Mien

6:45 PM

but is it 'butter' in your language?

rumtscho

@Mien That's where it was, actually.

Mien

In mine it's 'cheese'

rumtscho

But I don't buy such stuff, so I hadn't looked at this shelf and didn't know it was there.

Mien

ah yes, Erdnessbutter

rumtscho

ErdnUssbutter.

But if it had been Erdnusskäse, she'd probably have sent me to the cheese shelf.

Mien

6:47 PM

well, the butter is next to the cheese here ;)

rumtscho

And accidentaly, there are lots of Americans here, so you'd expect the supermarket sellers to know about American food.

rfusca

we're everywhere

Taste Five

@rfusca ha

rumtscho

@rfusca Usually, there aren't many Americans in Germany.

But in my city, there are American barracks since the end of WW II.

Last week I ordererd a pizza.

The pizza chain has lots of branches in different cities

and the branch for my part of the city had a special note "We accept american dollars", written in English

rfusca

@rumtscho lol awesome

one month till i find out the gender of my next kiddo!

rumtscho

6:50 PM

@rfusca you want to know it?

rfusca

yup

rumtscho

I have a pregnant co worker, she said she prefers not to.

rfusca

its either a surprise at the dr's office or a surprise when it comes out - one way just makes for easier planning

Taste Five

@rfusca How many kids do you have?

rfusca

just 1

this will be the 2nd and hopefully last

@TasteFive you have kids?

Taste Five

6:52 PM

@rfusca I do not yet, just 2 dags and a cat :)

dags = dogs

rumtscho

What kind of planning? Do you intend to buy blue onesies for a boy and pink ones for a girl? I mean, that's so 20th century.

rfusca

if you press the 'Up' arrow on your keyboard, you can edit your chat message btw

Taste Five

cool thanks

rfusca

@rumtscho painting the room, bedding colors, etc

rumtscho

@rfusca Exactly, I meant that modern parents don't choose colors based on the baby's gender. But maybe that's just a European trend.

Taste Five

6:55 PM

@rumtscho Alot still do here

rfusca

@rumtscho well i'd certainly rather not paint my boy's room hot pink...

Taste Five

or at least a theme

Mien

@rfusca I wouldn't even do that for a girl

rfusca

@Mien some definitely do that here

rumtscho

@rfusca 1. Why not? 2. I wouldn't paint it for my girl (if I had one)

Mien

6:56 PM

Yes well, here it's getting extinct

some just buy green stuff, that's gender neutral

rfusca

shrug not here

Mien

But I think I would like to know the sex before it is born

rfusca

ya, some do the whole gender neutral thing too

Mien

Just to be prepared or something

or at least pick a name

Taste Five

@Mien Yep, green and yellow are getting very poular

but are you decorating with butterflies or sports stuff. I think that is why most people want to find out.

rfusca

6:58 PM

ya, we did butterflies for my daughter's room

Mien

@rfusca how many kids do you have already?

rumtscho

@TasteFive I think that's just as bad as colors.

Taste Five

@rumtscho you have to decorate with somthing

rfusca

just 1, a 3 year old girl ..the whole paint a boy's room pink was hypothetical

i think its just a cultural difference

rumtscho

@TasteFive Either pick something neutral - I don't know what, maybe teddies - or put both sports and butterflies in, whatever the gender.

Taste Five

7:01 PM

@rumtscho Not sure the mixed theme room would go over well here.

For myself I don't really want to know. But my wife deffinitely does

Taste Five

7:15 PM

Finally, got that blog post done. Only a week late. Now to write on taste of Keller. I just don't know that I have enough time to keep up with this thing. Lol, I am already complaining and I just started it.

Taste Five

7:36 PM

It gets quiet in here quickly

hobodave

what did everyone have for dinner last night?

I had grilled pork chops with a spice rub, beets w/ garlic walnut sauce, salad, and some chocolate cookies

Taste Five

@hobodave Sounds really nice. Just BBQ chicken here

hobodave

@TasteFive special sauce?

Taste Five

@hobodave No not this time around. Just a store bought :(. Time crunched yesterday.

rumtscho

@hobodave I had a side dish (corn from the can with homemade mayo) without the main dish, for reasons widely discussed here and on the main site :(

At least I found out that my new mixer makes very good mayonnaise.

With the old one, it was hit and miss. Often it wouldn't emulsify well.

hobodave

7:56 PM

I made some mayonnaise this weekend too. We had a burger crisis, found out there was no mayo when we were putting the burgers together.

rumtscho

Lol burger crisis.

I don't eat burgers, but when I eat a sandwich, then definitely without mayonnaise.

Mien

I have no idea why, but I prefer making mayo with just a fork. I also prefer to whip my egg whites with a whisk.

I'm not into electrical stuff?

Or I like a bit of sweat in my food.

Taste Five

@Mien Mayo with a fork, that is something

Mien

I'm just oldschool, I guess

rumtscho

I can't even make it with a whisk.

I mean... we are speaking of a real, creamy emulsion here and not just a more or less fluid blend of yolk with oil?

Mien

8:08 PM

No, it's real mayo

one yolk, one bit of mustard, some salt and pepper and quite a lot of oil

but you have to be really careful with the oil

rumtscho

OK, the mustard helps, of course. It adds emulsifiers.

Taste Five

What kind of oil you guys using when making mayo?

Mien

You want me to make a video?

hobodave

I use a food processor

it took me < 5 minutes to make

Taste Five

@Mien I'd like to see it

hobodave

8:10 PM

screw a fork

rumtscho

@Mien I believe it without the video, but it might be worth seeing it, just for the OMG effect.

Mien

and we often add a bit of lemon juice

Taste Five

@rumtscho exactly

Mien

but that's for the taste, I think

I'll try to do it this week

if I have a working camera

rumtscho

It doesn't do much for the emulsion, but extends shelf life.

hobodave

8:11 PM

I use 2 yolks, 1tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp of mustard, 1 tsp of garlic powder, 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1 cup veg. oil

Mien

My battery is acting weird, but a new one is on the way

hobodave

salt & pepper of course

rumtscho

In fact, if you add enough acid and do it on heat

you can practically eliminate the salmonella risk

you get reduction numbers comparable to thorough cooking

only I don't like the result, because it is quite sour.

Taste Five

@hobodave how long do you estimate shelf life.

hobodave

I will throw it out after 5-7 days

Taste Five

8:13 PM

@hobodave yeah, that is what I figured. Have you tried it with one less egg yoke?

rumtscho

chefdecuisine.com/course/sauce/saucemain.php

hobodave

yes, you can use 1 whole egg if you don't like a super thick mayo

I however, do

rumtscho

There is a complete article on mayo safety there, it says the pH needed for unpasteurized mayo is 4.1 or lower.

Taste Five

My only problem is I dont think I would go through mayo that quickly. Seems like it would be a big waste for me

rumtscho

@TasteFive You can use much less oil, and then you end up with less mayo.

In fact, you can use pretty much any oil to yolk ratio.

Of course, the taste is different, but this is a matter of personal preference too.

So you can use 1 yolk with 80 g oil, this is easily used up in a week.

Just don't add water if you use small amounts of oil, because it will get too runny.

Yippie!

My meat is finally in an edible state

Mien

8:26 PM

:)

rumtscho

time for the veggies to jump into the pot

Mien

So what did you do?

rumtscho

I only have to decide if I'm too lazy to sweat the onions first.

I cooked it in a wine, water and herbs mix for about 2.5 hours (cut in 2 cm pieces).

I will cook it longer with the vegetables now, didn't want them to turn to mush in a 2.5 hour cooking process, so I didn't add them from the start.

I think I'll sweat the onions, after all that fuss it doesn't fall into weight that much. And they definitely taste better sweated.

Taste Five

@rumtscho I actually don't think I would even use that up in a week.

rumtscho

@TasteFive You just shouldn't look at it as a condiment, it is a sauce in its own right.

If the taste is too strong for you, use it as a base for another sauce.

Taste Five

8:32 PM

@rumtscho I guess I am really not a mayo person :)

rumtscho

@TasteFive I'm not either, but sometimes it fits whatever I want to cook.

Taste Five

But there are some salad dressings that I do like that use mayo, but even thouse are few.

rumtscho

I don't make it often, once every few months.

Taste Five

I'll probably give it a try, as its one of the few things I still buy pre-made in the supermarket.

rumtscho

Do you guys think that corn would be a good addition to a stew made with beef, onions, carrots, parsnip and potatoes?

The combination doesn't sound too exciting to me, but I have some corn I want to use up. Would you dump it in?

Mien

8:37 PM

I would

I don't think corn gives much flavour

So if it doesn't fit, just don't eat it

(just the corn I mean)

rfusca

@hobodave dinner last night was flank steak, mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots

hobodave

@rfusca mmm flank steak

one of my favs

rfusca

first time i'd cooked it - for some reason, just wasn't a cut I purchased before

turned out great though

hobodave

did you grill it?

Taste Five

@rfusca think flank steak is on the menu for tonight

Mien

8:45 PM

does anyone if it's hard to make ketchup? I've never even considered it

rfusca

normally I would, but I didn't want to fire up charcoal for a single steak for a total of 10 minutes on the grill. It was seared on a cast iron griddle

@TasteFive nice. Tonight is Orange Chicken

hobodave

@rfusca ahh, I used to be a hardcore charcoal only man; but the convenience of gas has won me over

Taste Five

@Mien I don't think its difficult it just takes a while

Mien

and is it better than bought?

rfusca

@hobodave i went the other direction. I used to be a gas only man, but the taste of charcoal won me. If I need convenience - I just use cast iron inside.

hobodave

8:48 PM

yea I miss the flavor

rumtscho

@Mien You need lots of patience for reducing the tomatoes. You probably can't get proper tomatoes in Belgium anyway. And then, it doesn't taste all that great.

hobodave

I just can't have a charcoal grill on my condo balcony

Mien

@rumtscho What are 'proper tomatoes'? Coeur de boeuf?

rumtscho

@Mien Proper tomatoes are tomatoes ripened in a garden under the sun.

Mien

Ah

rumtscho

8:50 PM

If you get imported ones, they are shipped green and then ripened with ethylene.

Mien

my own? :)

rumtscho

If you get tomatoes from a friend's garden, they grew without enough sun.

Mien

Ah, well, I'll perhaps try it next year

@rumtscho How so?

Or how can you see there was enough sun?

Taste Five

I think caned tomato does just fine.

rfusca

@TasteFive definitely

something like a DOP San Marzano should be great

rumtscho

8:52 PM

Hardiness zone

A hardiness zone (a subcategory of Vertical Zonation) is a geographically defined area in which a specific category of plant life is capable of growing, as defined by climatic conditions, including its ability to withstand the minimum temperatures of the zone (see the scale on the right or the table below). For example, a plant that is described as "hardy to zone 10" means that the plant can withstand a minimum temperature of -1°C. A more resilient plant that is "hardy to zone 9" can tolerate a minimum temperature of -7°C. First developed for the United States by the Department of Agricu...

Look at "AHS heat zones"

Belgium is a 2

Taste Five

@rfusca That is what I use to make mine

rumtscho

You get good tomatoes starting at around 5 or 6

Taste Five

I don't do it often though as it is expensive an time consuming.

Mien

Okay, never heard of that :)

rumtscho

Tomatoes need hot air and a high UV index.

You can grow them without, but the taste is very different.

rfusca

8:53 PM

@TasteFive definitely, its like five times the cost of normal ketchup

rumtscho

Why would you start out with canned tomatoes and then make ketchup out of them?

Taste Five

@rumtscho they need hot air, but they still need a cooler night depending on variety or they wont fruit

rfusca

@rumtscho ...because a canned tomato is still just tomato - but ketchup has all sorts of other stuff in it

rumtscho

In my experience, ketchup is what you make after you've canned more tomatoes than your extended family can eat in a year, and there are still tomatoes ripening in your garden :)

Taste Five

We had a very low yield this year as our night time temps did not get low enough. So we just had our early tomato's and we are just now getting some.

rumtscho

8:56 PM

It's maybe just because for our style of cooking, canned tomatoes are so much more useful than ketchup.

Taste Five

The sad thing about tomato in the US or at least here in Texas. You will never get a fresh tomato that is as good as some canned.

rumtscho

@TasteFive OK, maybe Texas is too hot. I've never been there. But I would have thought that if you can grow good tomatoes in Sicily, you can grow good tomatoes in Texas.

Taste Five

Yes even my best garden tomato don't make a sauce as good as canned san marzano. in my opinion

Mien

I've never tasted canned tomato by itself... It just doesn't look yummy

hobodave

@Mien you're missing out

Taste Five

8:58 PM

I think the tomato out of my garden taste great, better than anything in the store, but still canned tomato always seems to make batter sauce.

rfusca

definitely

Taste Five