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[Kagus]

Avocados ripen faster when not refrigerated, and the cold doesn't really help that much against the oxidation anyways.

There are home remedies for delaying browning, such as applying a thin layer of oil/lemon juice to the exposed flesh, or putting it cut-side-down in a shallow bowl of water, but how much of a difference they actually make is... Debatable.


Just cover the cut side with something-or-other (water, flat plate, plastic wrap) and let it sit for a while. You can probably get away with leaving it unrefrigerated for a day so it actually ripens, but that's always a risk, as with anything.

[Trekkin]

I finally got a chance to get back in the kitchen, and have determined that the mayonnaise/mustard sauce with which I have always accompanied scotched eggs tastes far better with balsamic vinegar added. I think I'll try it in lieu of mint sauce on a pork pie at some point.

[Ulfarr]

I found this recipe (youtube video)  for pasta some time ago and today I made it for the third time.

It's not very complicated, it doesn't take too much time to make and it tastes great. I've tried it with two different types of cheese, "kefalograviera" and parmesan, and the latter was the better choice, resulting in both a thicker sauce and a better taste. Personally, after my first try, I also opted to skip the extra egg yolk and add more garlick (~2 times the amount shown).

[Telgin]

My brother and I tried making beef wellington last night for Mother's Day, which wasn't an unmitigated disaster but definitely could have gone better.

For one thing, I think we should have used a smaller piece of the tenderloin, since we had to revise plans multiple times to add more prosciutto, add more plastic wrap, add more puff pastry, and so on.  It also made it really hard to brown it before rolling it up, and it made it very hard to wrap the thing up very tightly, so it was kind of loosely fit together.

The video I watched said to cook it to an internal temperature of 120 F, which sounded much too rare so we went for 135 F.  Somehow, it still came out almost raw in the center so we had to finish cooking some slices in a skillet to get it a little browned.  Naturally, it kind of falls apart if you try to do this, especially if it isn't tightly bound together.  I know some people like steak very rare but 120 would have been way too bloody... I don't want it well done but I do want it at least medium.

[Trekkin]

My brother and I tried making beef wellington last night for Mother's Day, which wasn't an unmitigated disaster but definitely could have gone better.

For one thing, I think we should have used a smaller piece of the tenderloin, since we had to revise plans multiple times to add more prosciutto, add more plastic wrap, add more puff pastry, and so on.  It also made it really hard to brown it before rolling it up, and it made it very hard to wrap the thing up very tightly, so it was kind of loosely fit together.

The video I watched said to cook it to an internal temperature of 120 F, which sounded much too rare so we went for 135 F.  Somehow, it still came out almost raw in the center so we had to finish cooking some slices in a skillet to get it a little browned.  Naturally, it kind of falls apart if you try to do this, especially if it isn't tightly bound together.  I know some people like steak very rare but 120 would have been way too bloody... I don't want it well done but I do want it at least medium.

That's happened to me before. If you're working with a 10x15" sheet of puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm's frozen ones, for example), I've found about a pound of meat works best. It's also not absolutely imperative that the prosciutto cover everything; the duxelles holds in some moisture on its own, and if you use plastic wrap to wrap everything up and let it sit overnight under some tension it gets much easier to roll in the pastry.

The best way I've found to do beef Wellington above rare is unfortunately to sous vide the beef, but I guess you could try cooking it en papillote first?

[Telgin]

Yeah, I think we ended up with like 4 pounds of meat, which was way too much, but we had 8 people to feed.  Letting it refrigerate overnight would have been a good idea though, since we were pressed for time and didn't really give it a chance to chill.

The puff pastry was mostly annoying because I had two sheets, but one wasn't long enough or wide enough on its own so I had to cut the second sheet up to extend it on both sides, then try to seal it together... which only kind of worked.

I'd definitely try to precook the beef next time somehow, if we ever try it again.  The whole process was pretty lengthy (maybe 2 hours of actual work) since it was our first time, but I'd expect another attempt to be only a little faster.  It was also pretty pricey of course, but the whole idea was to splurge for Mother's Day.

[Levi]

I tried to poach eggs for the first time yesterday.  I don't think they were perfect since a lot of the egg white came apart in the pot, but it all stayed together when I took each egg out of the pot and the yoke was still runny when I ate them so I think it was mostly a success. 

I used them to make Eggs Benedict with Salmon and Hollandaise sauce.  I have no idea if the whole thing was successful or not because its not a meal I've eaten before, but it tasted decent enough.

[Iduno]

I tried to poach eggs for the first time yesterday.  I don't think they were perfect since a lot of the egg white came apart in the pot, but it all stayed together when I took each egg out of the pot and the yoke was still runny when I ate them so I think it was mostly a success. 

I used them to make Eggs Benedict with Salmon and Hollandaise sauce.  I have no idea if the whole thing was successful or not because its not a meal I've eaten before, but it tasted decent enough.

Yeah, that's fairly normal. Fresher eggs work better, as is often the case. You got the yolk to stay runny without the white being non-solid, so you win.


I'm planning on making a breakfast pizza for a work thing Friday. Pepper gravy as the sauce, scrambled eggs, and a mild white cheese. Other thoughts on toppings? Probably green pepper + onion on half.

[Trekkin]

I'm planning on making a breakfast pizza for a work thing Friday. Pepper gravy as the sauce, scrambled eggs, and a mild white cheese. Other thoughts on toppings? Probably green pepper + onion on half.

Assuming you want to keep it broadly vegetarian, I'd look at it as a really big, shallow quiche/omelette and top it with the intersection of the two. Eggs, cheese and onion throughout, then half florentine (spinach) and the other half provençale (tomatoes and garlic.) Orthogonal to that, half mushrooms and half peppers.

EDIT: Ceteris paribus, I'd suggest adding lardons to add some umami, but I'd worry bringing treyf to a business function would be a faux pas.

[Iduno]

That's better than I was hoping for. Thank you. Although that edited in sentence containing no fewer than 4 languages (depending on your stance on loan words) is...actually I'm into that as well as long as it's still readable.

I figured one meat and one non-meat.

Now I have to figure out where to buy pizza boxes by Thursday night, and also go do that.

[Trekkin]

That's better than I was hoping for. Thank you. Although that edited in sentence containing no fewer than 4 languages (depending on your stance on loan words) is...actually I'm into that as well as long as it's still readable.

I figured one meat and one non-meat.

Now I have to figure out where to buy pizza boxes by Thursday night, and also go do that.

Happy to help.

RE: Pizza Boxes: Most restaurant supply places only sell the 50-packs, sadly. If you don't want to make your own (which, though doable, involves exactly as much tedious knife work as it sounds), I've moved them on parchment paper and cooling racks before; I stuck little cubes of dry florist's foam on the rack feet to act as spacers, put another on the top, and put the whole thing in one of those big 16x19 silvered thermal grocery bags. It works okay for something you can throw together at Wal-Mart.

[Mephisto]

Shredded potato. Maybe fry it first. Place said potato just below your cheese.

If you don't want a veggie dish, a really nice thin breakfast sausage (halved and then sliced into thick slivers) would go amazing as well. At that point, it's basically a solid version of the "everything" skillet you'd get from your local "<Insert City> Pancake House".

[birdy51]

Made a homemade pizza and decided to go all out once. Skillet cooked mushrooms finished off with a bit of garlic to help it along near the end, dough swiped with a bit of garlic salted butter, and a really damn good sauce with nicer pepperonis. I'm proud of it. ;.;

[itisnotlogical]

Petition to cancel all fruit-flavored jelly beans and replace them with the flavors that actually matter: buttered popcorn, roasted marshmellow, the various soda flavors, pina colada, cinnamon, etc.

[Kagus]

I have no cupboard, a dorm fridge, 50cm² of countertop space, a combination microwave/standard oven up on the shelf, and a just-about-1-liter pot which takes 12-20 minutes to boil thanks to this ridiculous stovetop.

I am... Somewhat at a loss as to things I can make. I suppose just try and invest 100% in the crockpot? I do need to learn how to make a decent pulled pork...