The super-basic questions thread for non-cooks

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I need to try that! I'm always leery of putting clingfilm in microwaves and pots of simmering water, but I do love a poached egg.

― Rock Hardy, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:56 (seventeen years ago) link

we've been spraying rocks glasses with cooking spray, then cracking an egg into them and placing in gently simmering water.

― lauren, Friday, 13 April 2007 17:12 (seventeen years ago) link

'gently simmering' :)

― jergïns, Friday, 13 April 2007 17:12 (seventeen years ago) link

I dispose of grease one of two ways--

1. I mix it with a healthy dose of Dawn and wash it down the sink.

2. If it's a small amount, I hollow out a little spot in the trash and pour it in there.

― Jesse, Sunday, 15 April 2007 18:36 (seventeen years ago) link

I wonder if the Dawn breaks up the grease enough to make it harmless? DAWN GETS GREASE OUT OF YOUR WAY, you know.

― Jesse, Sunday, 15 April 2007 18:41 (seventeen years ago) link

I keep a waste-grease bowl on the stove and when it fills up, I go dump it out in the back alley for the neighborhood dogs to lap up. If it makes them sick, it's good enough for 'em, since their owners let them run around loose against city regs.

― Rock Hardy, Sunday, 15 April 2007 19:14 (seventeen years ago) link

that's not the fault of the dogs!

― lauren, Sunday, 15 April 2007 20:49 (seventeen years ago) link

This is true. :-(
But they seem to enjoy it! (/big juicy rationalization)

― Rock Hardy, Monday, 16 April 2007 04:34 (seventeen years ago) link

I really love fried pasta

Spoken like a true Scotsman!

― Keith, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:13 (sixteen years ago) link

Jergins, if you don't have a proper steamer, you can steam in any covered pot or pan - just put a relatively thin layer of water on the bottom of the pan (enough to cover the bottom and not boil off immediately but not enough to submerge the veggies), cover, and turn up the heat.

― Hurting 2, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 05:22 (sixteen years ago) link

I love cold pasta sprinkled with sugar. And for that matter yorkshire pudding. It's just like pancakes amirite?

― Ned Trifle II, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 11:37 (sixteen years ago) link

a tiny bit of olive oil is also good for storage of cooked, non-sauced pasta

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 06:42 (sixteen years ago) link

I've heard/read that adding olive oil to pasta before saucing it can lead to the sauce running off and not sticking the way you'd like, but that's referring to it served hot. No idea what effect storing it cold and then reheating would have.

― Laurel, Friday, 27 April 2007 23:17 (sixteen years ago) link

Doesn't it bother anyone that yr eating this shit that you worry might be bad for the health of yr drains?

― libcrypt, Saturday, 28 April 2007 02:03 (sixteen years ago) link

Of course not. Your body is set up to digest fats and needs them to function properly. The same isn't true for drains.

― Jaq, Saturday, 28 April 2007 02:17 (sixteen years ago) link

Only to certain extent.

http://www.biovita.fi/arteriosclerosis.jpg

― libcrypt, Saturday, 28 April 2007 03:20 (sixteen years ago) link

Well, mix it with lye and scrub it on your exterior then. Don't eat it if you don't want to. It still doesn't bother me.

― Jaq, Saturday, 28 April 2007 04:09 (sixteen years ago) link

I lived with a guy who refused to allow soap to touch his skin. Interestingly enough, he was a grad student in chemistry, whatever that might tell ya.

― libcrypt, Saturday, 28 April 2007 04:20 (sixteen years ago) link

Well, as I've read, skin on its own maintains a slightly acidic pH as a first-level defense against bacteria on its surface, but most of our soaps and cleaners are slightly basic and neutralize that defense. So it makes some sense. You can restore the skin-friendly acidity with a vinegar rinse, it's excellent for getting hair clean of any product build-up or mineral solids from yr water supply. It'll also take off dye, though, so beware.

― Laurel, Saturday, 28 April 2007 07:55 (sixteen years ago) link

Vinegar is also bad for metal pipes. But it will clean up glassware and crystal nicely.

― Jaq, Saturday, 28 April 2007 14:29 (sixteen years ago) link

I'd also like to point out that there's grease left to pour down the pipes because it wasn't eaten.

The idea of a vinegar or acidic rinse is intriguing. The acidity could strip a large amount of the normal skin oils, where the alkalinity of a mild soap will saponify only a small amount and leave the rest, assuming it's a soap and not a detergent (which contains surfactants that strip even more oils) being used. I started using a form of virgin olive oil on my face as a cleanser, which left it feeling very clean but began to be quite drying. Possibly because olive oil is acidic. Now it works best for me to generally just use water and occasionally to use the oil.

― Jaq, Saturday, 28 April 2007 14:41 (sixteen years ago) link

I started using a form of virgin olive oil on my face

WHAT

― jergïns, Saturday, 28 April 2007 16:08 (sixteen years ago) link

okay, i just read "Kitchen Cupboard Beauty Tips" and i get it

― jergïns, Saturday, 28 April 2007 16:08 (sixteen years ago) link

great site admin cool boy

(i know as much about skincare as i do about cooking)

― jergïns, Saturday, 28 April 2007 16:09 (sixteen years ago) link

Jaq, I only use that rinse on my hair a couple of times a year -- I'm sure you could do more often but I forget about it! The results have always been remarkable, though -- hair much softer and free-feeling.

― Laurel, Saturday, 28 April 2007 22:04 (sixteen years ago) link

I was just reading up on this "no-poo" method - basically you stop using shampoo and wash your hair every so often with a dilute baking soda mixture followed occasionally with a cider vinegar rinse. Interesting, especially for people who want to limit their exposure to/decrease their use of petroleum derivatives.

― Jaq, Saturday, 28 April 2007 22:59 (sixteen years ago) link

a tiny bit of olive oil is also good for storage of cooked, non-sauced pasta

-- Hurting 2, Wednesday, April 25, 2007 1:42 AM (5 days ago)
I've heard/read that adding olive oil to pasta before saucing it can lead to the sauce running off and not sticking the way you'd like, but that's referring to it served hot. No idea what effect storing it cold and then reheating would have.

-- Laurel, Friday, April 27, 2007 6:17 PM (3 days ago)

I worked in a pizzeria that had a pizza that they topped with spaghetti and meatballs and fresh basil (it was actually very delicious, and a carb bonanza). We would cook the noodles and douse them with olive oil. We sauced it, but it didn't so much matter if the sauce stuck to the spaghetti. Still, I'm thinking that using the oil and having slightly less sauce adherance is a far better thing than having a solid mass of congealed noodle that holds sauce.

Therefore, I vote YES on Proposition Oily Noodle.

― Jesse, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 05:29 (sixteen years ago) link

Yeah, Jaq, I should really find something like that that works for me...I only wash hair 2x a week anyway & if I found a good dry shampoo, I might go to 1 or 1.5x/week. Already use baking soda as an exfoliant.

Jesse, if you serve pasta hot out of the water, you don't have to do anything to keep it from sticking together...I feel like adding oil is a convention of food services that have to keep the stuff servable over time, ie not an ideal home situation. Not an ideal restaurant situation, either, I mean, why not coil it into 1-portion-sized parboiled nests and drop them back in the hot water to finish & be fresh? Etc etc other solutions.

― Laurel, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 18:50 (sixteen years ago) link

Laurel, I'm thinking some combination of finely ground oatmeal/baking soda as a dry shampoo combined with the wet baking soda treatment and vinegar rinse might be worth trying out. Also, using this oil cleansing method on scalp once a week (or every 2 weeks). I'm growing more and more concerned about daily exposure to hydrocarbons/detergents these days. (Though can I give up coloring it??? I don't know.) Another interesting thing is the possibility that baking soda might calm down static - have to do more research on that.

― Jaq, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 20:30 (sixteen years ago) link

i would assume that dry shampoo would start to build up and actually attract dirt if used more than a few times in a row...?

― lauren, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 20:47 (sixteen years ago) link

(i'm basing this assumption on the gumminess that results from using baby powder or commercially prepared dry shampoo.)

― lauren, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 20:49 (sixteen years ago) link

Baby powder and cornstarch are so fine - I've never had much luck using them. I think they absorb the oil okay, but I can't get enough of it out. I'm thinking oatmeal might be less likely to stick and maybe the alkalinity of the baking soda might keep the oil from being so sticky too. Also, this idea of less static so more ionic repulsion instead of attraction. But on top of all that, using a wettish mix of baking soda every few days, massaging that in and rinsing it out, should (theoretically) saponify even more of the oils and carry them away, taking the remnants of the powdery stuff with it.

All good in theory, right? I need to start experimenting.

n.b. - the idea of rubbing a small amount of pure jojoba oil into my wet hair this morning was probably a good one, but I used too much and now it's lank and too greasy looking :(

― Jaq, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 21:01 (sixteen years ago) link

If you're going to vinegar rinse frequently, I'd cut back on the ratio -- I normally use 2 parts water to one part apple cider vinegar but that's about twice a year, like I said. I pour it onto dry hair and work it into the scalp & throughout, then shampoo & condition with the usual commercial products. I don't color, I just bleach! Also, I already use a mixture of corn meal, Quaker oatmeal, and honey as my body exfoliant so I'm pretty well set to try repurposing some combination of those ingredients.

Lauren, I read an old interview w/ Catherine Deneuve's stylist about how he kept her hair so tousled and full-bodied and he said he never got it wet! How the hell...?

― Laurel, Thursday, 3 May 2007 02:23 (sixteen years ago) link

Yeh Laurel, I meant oiling your pasta for future use. Though maybe doing a little bain marie on it might work just as well, who knows.

― Jesse, Thursday, 3 May 2007 04:05 (sixteen years ago) link

Ha! I finally found the Should We Wash Our Hair? thread.

― Jaq, Thursday, 3 May 2007 16:29 (sixteen years ago) link

Just bought a book on cooking techniques. They suggest poaching by dropping the egg in with a big spoon in vinegar water. I shall attempt this. :-)

― nathalie, Sunday, 6 May 2007 08:28 (sixteen years ago) link

Wonderful. I like to put a couple of eggs in my ramen noodles and let them poach.

― Jesse, Thursday, 10 May 2007 04:57 (sixteen years ago) link

How do I shot brown rice that doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot? I've tried using a little more water (it comes out mushy and STILL sticks), a little extra oil, the lowest heat possible, bit it keeps happening.

― Hurting 2, Monday, 14 May 2007 06:29 (sixteen years ago) link

rice cooker.

― lauren, Monday, 14 May 2007 14:13 (sixteen years ago) link

four years pass...

This was a good thread!

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Friday, 16 March 2012 10:17 (twelve years ago) link

I was too mean in this thread in 2007. I will be nicer.

― Carlos Pollomar (WmC), Friday, 16 March 2012 13:06 (twelve years ago) link

You were. I was appalled.

― Jaq, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:02 (twelve years ago) link

I'm glad this thread was revived -- I have no memory of being that horrible, but there's the evidence. Jergins and ILC, I apologize.

― Carlos Pollomar (WmC), Friday, 16 March 2012 14:09 (twelve years ago) link

You weren't that bad! Jergins is a capable lad, he can sort himself out.

― drawn to them like a moth toward a spanakopita (Laurel), Friday, 16 March 2012 14:10 (twelve years ago) link

you've said worse things to me in the past DAY

― lex pretend, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:34 (twelve years ago) link

how about i go get a döner kebab and some beer and forget i ever started this thread.

― jergincito, Saturday, March 10, 2007 7:28 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i am feeling this post at the moment tbh

― lex pretend, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:35 (twelve years ago) link

lex would you ever get an EZ cracker

― flagp∞st (dayo), Friday, 16 March 2012 14:45 (twelve years ago) link

could everyone here cook for me so i never have to learn

― markers, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:46 (twelve years ago) link

i can heat up water for instant oatmeal

― markers, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:46 (twelve years ago) link

no because gadgets and kitchenware are some of the things that most often go wrong with cooking, along with the rest of it

― lex pretend, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:48 (twelve years ago) link

Skipping 112 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I've heard the same thing about dairy doing...something...but I never bother, mostly cause I never have any dairy in the house other than yogurt, which just seems kind of odd in scrambled eggs but might actually be good.

Butter is essential, and they don't seem quite right without it. Also I love the eggs at the hippies with chickens in their yard and 4H kids sell through the co-op. And tons of fresh ground black pepper at the end.

― joygoat, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 15:45 (twelve years ago) link

my gf has taught me that the main mistake people make in their cooking is not adding way more spice than you think you need. especially a shitload of granulated garlic powder.

― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 15:47 (twelve years ago) link

I never use butter in my scrambled eggs -- I prefer to add flavor with spinach, onions, hot sauce, avocado (and s/p obvs)

― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 15:51 (twelve years ago) link

you can make really yummy fried eggs with sesame oil btw

― thuggish ruggish Brahms (DJP), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 15:52 (twelve years ago) link

this is how i do it up usually
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3440/4562680849_9662bd4ea4_o.jpg

― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 15:54 (twelve years ago) link

RIP that fern

― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 15:55 (twelve years ago) link

Even if you towel dry mushrooms, they still release a ton of water when you cook them.

this is true. Mushroom lovers should look up Julia Child's recipe in which they sweat out then re-gain all waters/oils and result in divine deliciousness.

― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 16:30 (twelve years ago) link

ste i would say also you could probably do w/ a lil bit more than just a pinch of salt (but then i always say that abt salt)

― just sayin, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 16:45 (twelve years ago) link

salt, pepper, butter. a dash of milk if you want.

and if you can find farm-fresh eggs, they're worth it.

― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 17:22 (twelve years ago) link

ste i would say also you could probably do w/ a lil bit more than just a pinch of salt

^^^ I agree w/this. The 3 foods whose flavors really bloom with generous salting are eggs, potatoes and corn, imo.

― any major prude will tell you (WmC), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 17:27 (twelve years ago) link

otm

― dayo, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 17:29 (twelve years ago) link

i find that it's really easy to over-salt eggs. hard to over-pepper, though.

― just1n3, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 17:32 (twelve years ago) link

when my parents scramble eggs for used in fried rice they oversalt the eggs but don't really salt the rice, I find it's a great balance

― dayo, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 17:32 (twelve years ago) link

(and i love salty food)

― just1n3, Wednesday, 21 March 2012 17:35 (twelve years ago) link

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