The Kitchen: all things delicious and disastrous

Yeah, I can see that. So dark and milk eating chocolate.

It says to melt the chocolate, though. Hm...

I'll take it down to my grandaunt. Thanks for your help!

edited 6th Oct '12 9:27:17 PM by Yuanchosaan

Not to toot my own horn, but I tried my hand at making sloppy joes today... and they had to be the best damn ones I've ever eaten. Leaving the hamburger in small chunks rather than completely separating it into almost a paste of sorts adds so much flavor, it's unbelievable. I'd go eat more, but I have to save some for the rest of the family...

Two things: I dumped the leftover nacho meat into the leftover pseudo-goulash soup I had and it worked really well.

Also, I have four big baking potatoes in the oven right now. When they're done, I'll scoop out the innards and mash them up to use in cheddar-dill potato bread tomorrow. I just wish I'd been able to get super-aged cheddar. I got the sharpest I could find and it's still pretty wimpy.

edited 9th Oct '12 1:11:28 PM by Madrugada

Ah... bog standard mouse-trap fodder. I'm also one for something with a bit of life under its belt, me.

Also: I lovelovelove my old-old-old, long, sharp, steel potato skewers. I hatehatehate the cheap, short, fat, blunt aluminum ones Mr Maddy tried to replace them with. Which is probably why the aluminum ones languish in the stuff-drawer, and the steel ones get used, then lovingly washed and oiled.

edited 9th Oct '12 1:10:53 PM by Madrugada

Oh, hell, yes. Mine disappeared during a move. The new ones don't conduct nearly as well for even cooking.

edited 9th Oct '12 1:13:10 PM by Euodiachloris

I inherited mine from my mother, who was given them when she moved out on her own as a young woman, by her mother. That puts them at somewhere around 75 years old... I've never found any to compare, even in the highest-end cookware shops and catalogs.

Mr Maddy's on top (about 4 inches long); mine on the bottom (a bit over 6 inches long):

edited 9th Oct '12 1:47:16 PM by Madrugada

The cheap blunt ones are really good for fruit kabobs for small children. Otherwise, worthless.

I don't have children, nor do I usually do fruit kabobs. But I'll keep that in mind if either of those situations ever do arise.

The short one just looks like Mr Maddy accidentally gave you a nail.

They really do. But they're actually sold as potato nails — despite being so soft that I can bend them with just my fingers. It was a set of six. Two have bent and one got lost.

edited 9th Oct '12 4:31:31 PM by Madrugada

Nota bene: the only thing better than kneading bread dough when you're stressed is kneading bread dough when you aren't stressed.

Well, crap. I forgot to add the dill to the dough.

Oh, well, I can put it in with the cheese chunks on the second knead, I guess.

Go with that: better yet, shove the cheese with the dill to allow both to get to know each other a bit, as you won't have the diffusion in the same way with the dough.

That, or you could slow the second rise a bit to give the dill time. <shrugs>

I re-chopped it, much finer, and mixed it with the flour I used to flour the board for the second knead. That mixed in it about as evenly as is possible to accomplish at this stage. And now my hands smell faintly of dill. I'm also going to give it a slower second rise — ordinarily, I'd be preheating the oven now, and the loaf would be sitting on the stove top where the oven vent dumps heat. But I've left it on the work surface instead, on the other side of the kitchen.

Incidentally, those lightweight fleece "travel blankets" they sell for a few dollars at the drugstore? They make wonderful covers for rising bread.

edited 10th Oct '12 7:20:14 AM by Madrugada

Is your house too cold? Bread rises slower if it's too cold.

The thermostat is programmed to let the house temp drop to 62 from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. I've bumped it up this morning, but I'm deliberately keeping it a little cooler than I usually set it to when I'm home to slow the rise. The blanket is for draft-evasion, as much as warmth.

edited 10th Oct '12 7:57:14 AM by Madrugada

Before baking◊ and after◊.

It smells really good. Someday I'm going to figure out how to snaffle a sample before I take it down to the shop.

D'ya think anyone would notice if I dug a piece out of the bottom?

edited 10th Oct '12 9:44:31 AM by Madrugada

What my gram and I tend to do when we're trying a new cake or something is take enough batter for a cupcake and bake that. With bread enough for a small roll. You keep an eye on it because it will bake faster, but it lets you know how the new recipe has turned out without compromising the big thing you're going to give away.

I should start doing that.

It's a fairly small thing that makes you a lot less nervous about the end result and nobody you serve it to will ever notice.

I just need to remember to do it.

Magnate message on fridge/ oven. That's my little trick.

Thread-hop. Hi chefs/cooking people.

Possibly dumb question, but what's the secret to making really good hot cocoa from scratch? Winter's coming up, and I'd like to fix a good batch of cocoa for myself and the family, but I lack cocoa experience.