#cooking discourse

[robotica-draws]

Dill is the worst herb / seasoning in the entire world, you put that on my food and I gotta throw the whole plate away!!!

[megatome]

how to ruin a pastry

add lemon

[tinyowlnonsense]

Discourse

My main problem with a few vegetables I won't name personally because I'm taking the high road, is that they get unbearably sweet when roasted

[whiskey-hussar]

Cast iron is fucking stupid and outdated, but at least it doesn't have the audacity to warp like stainless steel, which is somehow an even bigger Prima Donna

[trademarkblue]

ill admit I'm more of a cook than a baker! I am getting better though! I have found baking takes a lot more patience amd precision. I love making homemade donuts and snickdoodle cookies. I've also started to dabble with sourdough which has been fun!!

Homemade doughnuts!! Snickerdoodles!! Mmmmmm

I’ve never made doughnuts. Wanted to give it a try until a local place started making “cronuts” which semi-changed my life 😂 Now I’m like what’s even the point?

People talking about making sourdough sound like chemistry professors to me, and I love every second of it ❤️‍🔥

[phanomeheart]

I'm the rice anon from earlier. I too use the steaming method (though technically I guess it is called the absorption method) but I have cooked rice like pasta before, the way Phil describes, with good results. Rice is such a common staple I know there are different ways to cook it -- like I know in some latin cultures getting a layer of burned rice on the bottom of the pan is like the epitome of good eating.

Mmm, that layer of crunchy slightly burned rice, though. Yeah, another way I cook rice I learned in Central America and has you cook the raw rice for a couple of minutes in the pot (or rice cooker) first without water and with oil/onions/garlic/seasoning, which is also very good and supposedly does... something to the rice, I don’t really remember the explanation.

Now I wanna try both methods and compare the outcomes. I don’t think I’ve ever had free-range boiled rice (I just imagine them all floating around in there, like a handful of grains in a giant pot of water which I get is not how you do it, but is amusing me).

[phanomeheart]

The boiling method is a perfectly valid way of cooking rice; I just don't think it's very common in North American kitchens, which tend to use the steaming method.

Interesting! So I did a little rice research and I’m now unsure of what steaming v. boiling would describe since the way I cook rice uses both. I rinse the rice (ideally, if I’m not feeling lazy), bring it to a boil in a pot of water w/ a 1:1-1:2 ratio (depending on rice type), reduce to simmer and cook covered until the rice is cooked (15-20 mins) and the water has evaporated, and then let it rest for ~5 minutes. So I was referring to the steam at the very end of the cooking process/resting period (it was always emphasized to me to not bother it and keep the lid on). But by boiling you mean cooking in a larger quantity of water, like pasta, and then straining? I found one quora thread that talked about this method (and one person said they returned it to the pot to steam in the residual water?) and that this was beneficial because it’s gentler on the rice. I’m definitely not saying it’s wrong, it’s just something I’ve never heard of, and I was wondering about why you would (or wouldn’t potentially) want to do it that way from a food science perspective. There seemed to be a lot of conflicting opinions about how it impacts rice texture, nutrient content, etc. so I’m interested to look into it more. But it’s totally true too that there are regional ways of cooking different foods and those aren’t right or wrong. 

I feel like I should add that it’s literally my job to think about (and now carry out) teaching beginners how to cook in a way that makes them feel more confident and engaged in cooking, so I’ve just been really interested in all this. I’m definitely not trying to judge either of them, or anyone else, and I’m in no way a trained chef, so there’s tons I don’t know too. Maybe I’ve unwittingly picked up too much of the judgement of some of my colleagues, but I do believe people should cook however and however much they like. I also think basic lessons can help people understand why certain methods work and can make people feel more comfortable in the kitchen, and potentially enjoy cooking more. But no one has to be interested in cooking, and plenty of people don’t have the opportunity to learn about cooking. Ideally (for me), everyone would have access to learning basic cooking skills in school so they can cook if they choose to, but that is far from the reality (in the US anyway) at the moment. 

In terms of Dan and Phil, I honestly have no idea how much they cook/how comfortable they are with it. They can afford to eat out/buy prepared food, so if they want to do that mostly, more power to them. Maybe they cook a bunch. Maybe they make delicious food. I’ve just found it interesting to hear Phil talking about how he cooks and methods he uses that (to me) sound less conventional, and thinking about their relationship to food/cooking.

[phanomeheart]

Maybe dan and Phil needs to hire Gordon Ramsey to teach them how to cook

Honestly I can only imagine this in a world where Phil is a child, or for whatever reason Gordon Ramsey treats him like a child, because the thought of him yelling at Phil makes me kinda sad. But nice, supportive, gentle teacher Gordon Ramsey coaching Phil through cooking rice sounds delightful. Though I can only imagine what Gordon would have to say about the sand, lol.

Or they could go to the BA test kitchen and be tall and weird with Brad and Carla could be lovely and patient and teach them things. Oh god, now I’m imagining either of them doing the ‘keeping up with Carla’ show. Phil especially would just be... an experience to watch (I would love it, I picture him being so charming and silly as he just like completely fucks something up). And Phil and Claire could talk about their mutual love of Buffy.