When I was aboard Vista, Oceania’s newest ship, taking one of their very excellent cooking classes, I learned this little trick: when you are making an individual cake in a ramekin, butter the ramekin well, line it with two long strips of parchment so they are sticking out and then,…
My answers are based on the assumption that you used the original Tollhouse cookie recipe.There are several reasons why your cookies might be spreading: The dough is too soft. It might have sat out too long on the counter before you baked the cookies, or you might have let the butter…
My answers are based on the assumption that you used the original Tollhouse cookie recipe. There are several reasons why your cookies might be spreading: The dough is too soft. It might have sat out too long on the counter before you baked the cookies, or you might have let the…
First of all make sure the chicken pieces are dry, coat them with flour (I like to use Wondra instantized flour) or cornstarch and shake off any excess. Then dip them in beaten egg or buttermilk, or a combination of the two, and finally coat them with bread crumbs, panko,…
A viewer recently asked, “Can I freeze potatoes?” Although you can’t freeze raw potatoes (they discolor and the texture changes), if you suddenly have way more potatoes than you can use before they wrinkle, you can freeze some for a short period of time with the right preparation. You might…
I recently got a question from Phyllis who asked, “Every time I make scalloped potatoes my sauce breaks. What am I doing wrong.” This seems to be a frequent problem with scalloped potatoes particularly when you use a recipe that calls for layering the potatoes, onions, and cheese and pouring…
Randall, a viewer, asked “The rule had always been, you could freeze raw meat once and cooked meat once. Is this true and why?” I think it is a pretty good rule of thumb. However, the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service web site which gives…
I got a question on my web site from Tammy who said “I was wondering, if you could tell me how to select a good mango and the proper way to cut it?” Both very good questions. First of all a mango’s color indicates its variety not its ripeness, so red…
I recently received a question from Wendell who asked, “ how do you decide which level of the oven to use for a given task.” In most cases selecting the rack in the middle of the oven is a good choice unless the recipe tells you to use the upper…
I got a question entitled “Soggy Fruit Pies” from Audrey, a viewer. That got my attention! She asked for my best tip for “making sure fruit pies don’t become too soggy when baked.” She particularly asked about blueberry and peach fillings. Here are my thoughts. If you are making a…
The other day I got a question on my web site from Aletha who is having trouble cleaning burned-on fat from a baking pan. She wondered how to clean the pan and then asked how I keep my pans clean. I’ll answer the second question first. I have had some…
I recently got this question from John: “Every recipe that I read that includes cornmeal never states what grind to use. How can I determine which grind to use? Should it be Coarse, Fine or Corn flour?” Until the last decade, it was very difficult to find anything but steel-ground…
I received an e-mail from a viewer asking, “Is there a way to save lemon rinds after squeezing out the juice . . . . I hate tossing those beautiful lemon shells.” I put on my Kitchen Shrink apron and thought of lots of ways empty lemon shells could have a…
Grilled Octopus is a favorite on menus all across the country but people tell me that they are afraid to try to prepare it at home. I thought that would be a great topic for my show and my latest book so I enlisted the help of Dave Pasternack,…
There are a number of ways to roast peppers; all are easy. I have used roasted red peppers in all of my books and here are the instructions include to help readers make them: If you have a gas stove, turn on one burner to a low flame for every four peppers you want…
I’ve been getting questions about farro ever since we cooked it in Season 2, Episode 211. This delicious, nutty, crunchy grain is now appearing on restaurant menus all over the country and is finally pretty easy to find in supermarkets as well. Farro can be any of three ancient species…
One of the most frequent questions that come in to the Kitchen Shrink is, “How can I melt chocolate without the risk of it scorching or suddenly getting firm.” Chocolate is very sensitive to heat and it is best to melt it slowly. I like to melt it in the…
Linda recently e-mailed the Kitchen Shrink to ask, “when a recipe calls for a medium onion, chopped, or a clove of garlic, chopped, what do they measure in standard measuring cups and spoons?” What a good question! Not everyone’s idea of medium is the same. When I wrote my second…
A while ago I got an e-mail from Brent asking, “How long do you cook rice?” I thought I would just send him a link to my recipe for cooking rice and discovered that although I recommend serving my Simple Boiled Rice with several entrées, the recipe wasn’t up on the…
One of the questions I frequently get at this time of year is, “Where can I find out how to carve a turkey?” I have lots of information on the site about cooking and serving turkey and decided that carving the bird was the missing piece. Of the many guides…
Angelia recently e-mailed the Kitchenshrink to ask, “What is the difference, if any, between rice wine vinegar and rice vinegar?” There really isn’t much difference between rice vinegar and rice wine vinegar and they can certainly be used interchangeably in a recipe. To make rice vinegar, rice is fermented until it…
There are many varieties of both shallots and onions within the species Allium cepa. They vary in appearance in that shallots grow in clusters attached at the bottom and each onion is an individual. But there doesn’t seem to be a consensus as to which is stronger in flavor. Perhaps…
Now that summer picnic season is in full swing, I have had several requests for information on safely packing and carrying foods. Whether you are driving miles to a park or the beach or going next door for supper on the deck, the heat is on and you need to…
Each time I use my special extra-large bench scraper on the show I get many e-mails from viewers who would like to have one. My search for a source was unsuccessful until I found out that I was looking for it by the wrong name. So here’s the scoop. My giant…