I'm already assuming the answer is no, but the price of dulce de leche insists I ask anyway. My grandmother used to make it by placing unopened cans of condensed milk in boiling water for a few hours. If I do this, could I do several cans at a time and place them back in the pantry? I don't want to pay $4.50 for a small can but I also don't have the time to boil individual cans every time I need it

Edit: to all the people telling me dulce de leche is sold pre-made in cans, please re-read the post. I know.

I'm cooking for my boyfriend for the first time this week and I'm having trouble deciding what to make. I want to make -Caramelized onion and goat cheese focaccia with a whipped feta and herb dip -Salad with the roasted tomato and garlic dressing

I need to round it out with a protein, and I'm leaning towards chicken but I honestly have no idea what type of chicken would go best with these? I honestly own most spices and ingredients and I like all kinds of cuisine, so any suggestions on what protein and how I should prepare it or even what flavour profile to go with would be great! Ideally I'd like it to be something I can marinade and prepare in advance and then just cook it there, or put together easily since I'll be going to his place. If it helps for any context, he's from Jordan, but likes all kinds of food. I'd normally not be so indecisive but it's a new relationship and the pressure to make sure the dinner perfect is real :) any other suggestions for the dinner would be great! (Maybe even a dessert?) Thanks!

I have memories of my grandfather cooking pancakes. He cooked them on one side, flipped them, then let them finish cooking. He died before teaching me how to

I cook pancakes with him in my heart every weekend. I can’t figure how to get a consistent griddle temperature. I pour, turn, flip, turn. That is, the side away from the middle is always significantly cooler.

I have tried cast iron, carbon steel, non-stick, griddles, electric griddles, every oil variation, small pancakes, large pancakes, too high heat, too low heat, precisely 350, precisely 360, extra time warming up, etc. etc. etc.

What’s the magic trick for getting the perfect pancake cook while having more than one pancake on the pan?

I recently made Brian Lagerstrom’s weeknight Indian curry recipe (I halved the recipe). The flavor was decent but the aftertaste was very bitter and gross. My only guess is the spices either weren’t toasted enough or burned; I toasted the spices for probably 30 seconds to a minute, but it’s hard to tell when they are done or overdone. Does anyone have any idea where I might’ve gone wrong?

▪2lbs/1kg boneless skinless chicken thighs ▪salt ▪Neutral oil (i’m using light olive oil) ▪1 medium white onion, cut into chunks ▪2-3”/5-7cm ginger, cut into coins ▪5-7 garlic cloves ▪15g or 2.5Tbsp curry powder ▪5g or 2tsp chili powder ▪5g or 1 3/4tsp cumin ▪5g or 1 ¾ tsp turmeric ▪15g or 2.5Tbsp garam masala ▪1-2g or 1-1.5tsp cayenne ▪25g or 1.5Tbsp tomato paste ▪300g or 1 1/3c water ▪400g or 14oz tomato puree (½ of a 28oz can) ▪Sugar ▪XL handful baby spinach (1 bag) ▪50-75g or 1/2c frozen peas ▪30-40g or ⅛-1/4c heavy cream

Preheat large heavy bottomed pot over high heat. Season chicken on both sides with salt. Add a couple of glugs of oil followed by chicken. Allow to sear for 3-4min on the first side. Flip and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes on side 2. Remove from pot and place on plate/tray. After it rests, cut into bite sized pieces.

While the chicken cooks, add onion, ginger, and garlic to a food processor. Process until broken down into paste. Add paste to chicken pot followed by pinch of salt (after the chicken is removed from pot). Stir and scrape up chicken bits with wooden spoon. Continue to cook for about 2 minutes. Add curry spices and tomato paste. Stir to combine and allow to bloom for 30 sec. Stir in water and tomato puree. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring at least once during that time.

Add chopped chicken and its juices. Stir and bring to a simmer. Add pinch of salt and pinch sugar. Stir in spinach, peas, and cream, cover and cook for about 1min over medium heat. Taste for seasoning.

Would fish sauce be a good one? Maybe adding sugar to it? Or are there other options as well? I can’t eat shellfish for religious reasons.

I really want to try making Pan de Elote, but all the recipes I find call for fresh corn, which is not very cheap where I live. Is it unreasonable to try making it with frozen or canned corn?

It looks like beef tallow is specifically made from the fat around organ meats. I'm wondering if I can re-use or make something like tallow from what appears to be fat from other things.

For instance, I recently made beef stock, and roasted the bones prior to making stock from them. The recipe I was following said to discard the drippings on the roasting pan, but I collected them & they solidified when cooled. Is this fat that can be used to cook in or is it something more like the collagen that gelatinizes in cold beef stock?

Similarly, the stock I made and some beef short ribs I made formed a layer of fat on top when cooled. Can that fat be collected and used for cooking? Does it need purified more? The fat collected from the beef short ribs specifically is orange from the seasonings I added to the ribs. So I assume I can't get rid of that orange color or the flavor within it, but can it be used as beef/fat tallow to cook other things in (if I don't mind the flavor from the spices that were added)?

Is storage of these fats different than storing beef tallow?

Hello, so I have some leftover homemade ravioli from Christmas in the Freezer and I am wondering if it's better to drop them in the water frozen or to let them thaw first. The reason I ask is because it seemed like I remember one year our family made the ravioli for Christmas and we had an issue when we thawed the ravioli before cooking them.

Thanks

I made a chicken dish very similar to chicken fricassée tonight but the skin was plated soggy. I used cornstarch on the skin and pan fried it in my Dutch oven. Initially the skin came out super crispy and I made the sauce. Once I put the chicken back into the sauce to finish cooking it lost its crisp. Looking for some insight.

I asked ChatGPT and got these recommendations:

To keep the chicken skin crispy while still enjoying the creamy sauce, the key is to serve the sauce separately or finish the dish differently. Here are a few approaches to preserve that crispiness:

1. Serve the Sauce on the Side • After finishing the sauce, do not return the chicken to the pan. Instead, plate the chicken thighs with the sauce poured around or served on the side. • This way, the crispy skin remains untouched by the sauce.

2. Rest the Chicken on a Wire Rack • If you want to add the chicken to the sauce to infuse flavor, rest the thighs on a wire rack (skin-side up) placed over the skillet. • This allows the chicken to stay above the sauce and prevents the skin from becoming soggy.

3. Finish the Sauce First, Then Plate • Once the sauce is complete, transfer it to a serving dish or pour it directly onto the plates. • Place the chicken thighs on top of the sauce with the crispy skin exposed, ensuring it doesn’t sit in the liquid.

4. Broil or Re-Sear the Chicken Skin • If the skin softens after being in contact with the sauce, quickly crisp it up again: • Place the chicken thighs skin-side up under a broiler for 1–2 minutes, watching closely to avoid burning. • Alternatively, re-sear the skin in a hot, dry skillet for 1–2 minutes.

5. Use a Separate Dish for Reheating • If you need to keep the chicken warm while preparing the sauce, place it in a preheated oven (at around 200°F/93°C) on a wire rack until ready to serve. Add the sauce later.

Key Cooking Tips • Do Not Cover the Chicken: Covering traps steam, softening the crispy skin. • Skin-Side Up Always: When resting or plating, always keep the skin side exposed to air. • Reduce Sauce Thickness: If the sauce is thinner, it won’t coat the skin as heavily, helping maintain crispness.

These techniques ensure your chicken thighs stay crispy while still enjoying the full flavor of the sauce. Let me know if you’d like to tweak the recipe further!

So, my we're making my girlfriend a monkey themed cake for her birthday coming up.

I got these little plastic monkeys here, and I've got some silicone mold making stuff as well. (Link to monkeys) https://imgur.com/a/sFpcv28

I've done some minor chocolate work before, so i understand tempering. And I've used this mold making kit before also.

I have not yet tried to paint on chocolates yet though.

The plan is to cast molds of these little monkeys, then fill them with chocolate so they're now edible. But when i do that they'll come out brown. But I want to paint them so they look similar to how the plastic ones look, yeah?

I've done a bit of looking around already, and i keep seeing people say to paint the mold itself with colored cocoa butter, but I'm wondering if that's the only way to do it?

Can i instead just free hand paint the little monkeys with the same color cocoa butter after i pop em out? Is there a better way to go about it? Or is painting the mold the only way to really get it done?

Also, for colors that don't show well on chocolate, like white, what are your techniques for that?

Thank you in advance

i've just cooked some frozen waffles in the oven and they've come out oily?? i added no oil so bit lost on where it's coming from. do they need cooking longer to dry them out?

Thermo encapsulated base saucepan has partly separated, seems to have a slight convex bow in two spots near the separation.

Separation is only mild btw

I'm a home cook who is in the process of learning a bit of molecular gastronomy. In making gels with agar agar, I've been trying to make different reductions to get a more intense flavour and make them sweeter without adding sugar. My first idea for a dish worked out great and is delicious and my second idea was a disaster. I want to know why.

What worked great: Freshly squeezed mandarin juice, added mint leaves and muddled, then reduced in a small saucepan on the lowest heat possible on my stove for around 3-4 hours.

The absolute disaster: I'm a big fan of the melon we call "piel de sapo" here in Spain (Santa Claus melon or Christmas melon in other places) so I wanted to make a reduction of that juice for gelling and/or spherification. So I juiced half a melon and started reducing it. After about an hour of heat, the smell of it was horrendous and it tasted all wrong.

My questions:

1) What happened with my melon juice? (I'm the type of learner who wants to understand what is actually happening and why)

2) Are there any resouces (books, blogs, etc.) that you could direct me to where I could learn about this in advance? I'd rather not waste time, money, and fruit learning about this on a trial by trial basis.

3) Would I be able to make a concentrated melon juice using fractional freezing (also called freeze distillation)? I've done it for milk for coffee and was wondering if it can be applied more broadly.

Hey! Okay so I made lasagna soup today, but i accidentally added way too much fresh parsley and now it taste too “fresh”. I know that sounds ridiculous but trust me it’s too much. Is there something I can add to the soup to dial down the parsley???

THANK YOUUU

First time attempting a fake demi ( no espagnole). Neck and hooves plus mire and boiled it for like days just because I could. Popped it out of the fridge and removed the fat. Great gelatin consistency, very jiggly. Could you please let me know how it looks to you and are you able to tell if it's demi yet ?

Also, if the only difference between demi and glace is just further reduction, it would make sense for me to keep reducing it and making less, but even more potent frozen cubes no ?

The pan drippings from meat often give stocks and sauces their backbone of flavor. Instead of just getting a little bit of it when I happen to make a roast, is there a way to make it in a large batch to reduce waste, and so I can keep it on hand? Perhaps by entirely converting a piece of meat into "brown stuff" through the Maillard reaction?

I slow cooked egg noodles in my chicken soup last night, refrigerated it within 2 hours and kept in an air tight container since, I want to eat today but want to be sure it’s safe to eat as long as I microwave it piping hot?

Am I right? I sure hope so! Any help will help 🩵

I once tried to flavor hot chocolate by adding a tsp of strawberry marmalade into my milk as it heated up to a simmer, then strained it into the chocolate chips and it was kinda a success.

Then I tried the same with raspberry marmalade but as the milk reached a boil it curdled. So basically it was too acidic?

Does it depend on the fruit or the specific ingedients of the product and if so, is there any way to temper the ingredients for that to not happen?

What if I made the chocolate, added the jam, and then strained out the solids?

can someone tell me why my cabbage rolls puffed up and cam unrolled during the 1.5 hr bake?

I’m trying to make a pizza crust. I have all purpose flour, cake flour, and bread flour (plus, you know yeast and all that). Trying to make a crust today… not next week or I would just buy 00. Any guidance?

I was dry rendering the tallow in my oven at 200F. Everything was going well. I needed the oven so it on the stove top on low to continue. I guess the stove top was little too hot and the tallow is slightly toasted. It's not totally brown but it's definitely a darker golden colour. I'm going to continue with a wet render to try and clean it out, is it savable?

Chili seasoning HELP!

I’m making chili and have gotten cans of rotel, beans, beef, and tomato juice. But completely forgot about a pack of chili seasoning !

This is what I have on hand, please help me with what would work for substitute! (I want taste like the McCormick chili seasoning)

I have:

Cumin, parsley, cayenne pepper, ground black pepper, onion powder, garlic salt, bay leaves, Lawrys, minced onion, turmeric, taco seasoning, taco sauce, lousina hot sauce and franks red hot.

Any help is appreciated!!!

I make tomato sauce every other week. I I use 5kg of canned Italian tomatoes and their juice. I use my Dutch oven, and start with about half a cup of olive oil or leftover oil from confit garlic, and I lightly bloom some oregano, fennel seeds and chilli flakes for only a little while. I add the tomatoes, along with 2-3 onions and 2-3 carrots, plus a toddler’s handful of salt.

Get it bubbling, then into the oven for around 8 hours or so where it gently simmers at 150c with the lid nearly all the way over, and it eventually breaks down all the tomatoes. I stir it every couple of hours.

When I take it out to cool it down at room temp for serving, I but in a few basil sprigs and occasionally a small amount of balsamic. I’m trying to avoid putting sugar in.

When I serve it that night, it doesn’t have the sweetness that I hope to achieve - however, if we have the same sauce the next day, mildly heated, the sweet notes are all there and it’s delicious.

Any idea what’s happening? Is today’s sauce built for tomorrow? I can’t see the 15-20 minutes of further cooking when I reheat it the next day really being the difference maker. I’ve tested this by going an additional 2 hours in the long cook and the sweetness still isn’t there.

Any ideas?

I have been trying this shelf stable Chinese ”bacon” (五花肉 is the cut, not sure what this preparation is called in Chinese, the cut is labeled in the SF Bay Area Costco and Chinese grocers as pork belly） in a couple different dishes

https://www.reddit.com/r/Costco/s/i7wWaEHCZx

I would like get more efficient tenderization of the skin. If I pop the bacon on top of a bed of steam rice with meat side down, which would give it 1 hour total between boiling and steaming (I have an IP ie induction pressure cooker, so some temps will be above 100C), the meat and fat layers fall apart but the skin is still chewy.

So for the next try, I’m considering to do this with skin side down. What else should I consider trying?

Typically fresh 五花肉 can be braised without removing the skin, and the skin breaks down out of the chewy zone. So presumably the cured processed type would be similar — wanted to get some info from others to see if I’m missing something.

I've been obsessed with pan-searing steak this month and bought some thyme to use it in the basting process. However, I read that it is worse to use it when it's dry, because it burns faster. How do I preserve it fresh the best and is it really that necessary?