/sqt/ - Stupid Questions Thread

All of them. Take your pick.

Whats a good tea to start with

Yorkshire Gold

what does bay leaf actually provide in terms of flavor to a dish? I only ever see it used in like long braised or stewed meat dishes, and it seems like the single leaf can't possibly be enough to do whatever it's supposed to do.

should I use it in non-meat dishes? I'm just really confused since everything around it is just a "people always put bay leaves in stews so you gotta do it too lol"

How do I dispose of oil used for deep frying?

keep a separate plastic container for it and bring it to your local restaurant once it's full; they have to dispose of theirs as well and it's nominal to just throw yours in with the lot

Simmer a bay leaf in water for an hour and then taste the water.

This. If you ever want to know the flavor qualities of an herb, just do this. Then you'll have to extrapolate with something called *gasp* imagination (if you're a millennial disregard because you don't have one) to determine how it will meld with the other ingredients in your dish.

For cookies you put a brownie or other moist kind of pastry in the jar to keep them moist.
Otherwise a little water at the bottom of the container and the lid on when reheating it will go a long way

90% of beans are simply soak overnight and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Don't use the same water you soaked them in as it has stuff in it that leeches out if the beans that gives you bad gas (soaked beans give you less gas because of this). Cook them in stock or with a pork hock for flavor. Use them for soups and over rice obviously. Things like chickpea and white beans can be pureed into a paste and eaten like hummus.

Pasta e faglioli is a fantastic, comfy recipe. I make it with dried beans, but you could use canned in a pinch.

Excluding any type of milk, what are the best and cheapest sources of calcium?

Fish, sardines are good in this regard I think
Salmon is full of vit d, you should consider it

Is it possible to make chicken tenders without breadcrumbs? Just with a flour coating?

The sun.
Dairy products in general (cheese, yoghurt).
Fish.

Yes.
You might want to season the coating a bit with whatever you like too.

My family uses linguine. There are tons you can use. I can't remember lots of names but there's papardelle and Angel hair

No, it's burned. The water is too hot and the pressure is way too low to be espresso.

>I have a fucking mouse in my kitchen and he is squeaking loud a s fuck. I have set up four traps with smooth peanut butter and he has not taken the bait. Is this fucking mouse a chunky elitist.
Buy that cheap summer sausage, smellier the better. Smoked bacon, sausage, etc, and bait the traps with that. Always throw out a trap ASAP, because any witnesses on the death and carnage trains the other mice to stay away from the trap. If you hear a snap or a noise in the night, get out of bed and get that mice gone! If they're still living and suffering, drop the whole thing into a garbag can of water to die right away, and dispose of it later. Never reuse a trap, fresh and new and no scents on the wood or trap for the next victim.

Yes use corn starch and seasoning with a little flour mixed in (like 1 cup flour to 4 cups corn starch). They won't be breaded obviously but they fry up nice and have a bit of crunch without absorbing all the oil. It's what I use when I make wings usually to crisp things up.

what's the white rubbery thing in the middle of a chicken breast?

Sometimes when I'm cooking the smoke detector goes off. But the food isn't burned. What's going on?

what happens if i make sushi with medium grain rice?

not trying to make authentic $400 jiro sushi. just something that tastes alright.

Can you recommend me a decent recipe to use for chicken tenders without breading? I was just going to do egg->flour+seasoning->bake in oven, will that work?

I've used medium, it's okay. Might be a bit messier to eat.

If it's a chicken breast with the tender still attached, then it's a tendon. Otherwise, probably just a piece of fat.

>I was just going to do egg->flour+seasoning->bake in oven, will that work?
Yes, but pour a little melted butter or oil onto the pan and over the top or flip them halfway through, otherwise the flour will stay dry/gummy.

Sometimes fat or oil will go to spots on the pan where there isn't much food and start to smoke, especially if you're broiling or baking at high temperatures where you aren't stirring the food around like you would in a pan.

Or, you're cooking with low smoke point oils like extra virgin olive oil and need to use something with a higher smoke point like canola oil, peanut oil, or ghee/clarified butter.

How long should I boil water?

Until it boils

Until it stops boiling

Pu'er

But how do you tell when it boils?
Ummmmm Big or little bubbles?

Does soy actually have negative effects with estrogen? I don't eat a lot of it in the first place but the /pol/ meme has made me intrigued.

no, it doesn't

When making pot roast, how do I keep all my vegetables from getting all mushy?

Also, how do I choose a good wine for deglazing? I don't know much about wine.

If I dont have a tulip glass for IPA beers, does a wine glass serve the purpose just as well?

Can I just mix some apple cider with vinegar instead of buying apple cider vinegar?

No, but you could substitute it with white wine vinegar or just plain white vinegar.

Here's a great starter recipe:
1. Get a bag of dried pinto beans
2. Quick soak them (put them in a pot of water, bring to a boil, then let sit for an hour)
3. After an hour, start simmering on low with some more water added
4. Add 1tbsp of lard (or vegetable oil if you can't find it), 1-2 bay leaves, a pinch of brown sugar or less white sugar (or to taste), lots of garlic in your preferred preparation (or garlic powder), finely-chopped fried onions or non-fried if you're lazy (optional), salt and pepper to taste, cayenne powder or chili powder, whatever else you want
4.5. Add a dash of cheap beer if you want
5. Wait until beam water simmers down to a thick consistency of your liking
6. Enjoy! Tastes good as a side and/or with tortillas

Is expired stovetop stuffing safe to eat?

>Don't use the same water you soaked them in as it has stuff in it that leeches out if the beans that gives you bad gas
If you eat beans regularly this won't happen though, your digestive bacteria will adjust and it'll be like any other food. The same thing can happen if you eat a lot of raw sauerkraut.

Probably, if the date on the package just says "best by" then it's only a date for you to know when the product starts losing some of its flavor or texture, but it's still perfectly safe to eat.

That's what I thought. I don't think there is any ingredient in there that would go really bad after only a year.

It's a meme. But a powerful one that people believe to be true.

should be, it's just bread crumbs and seasoning. I don't really see how it could go bad unless it got damp and moldy

Get the types of traps that are the one way in, no way out traps, not the ones that slice them in half.
use cheese.

My favorite is English Breakfast Black Tea.

Pour it down the drain while running cold water.

Roast the vegetables separately or put them later in the cooking time

Is there a way to make meal prepping interesting? Trying to lose weight so I make chicken breasts, basmati rice and broccoli sets that lasts me 4 or 5 days while I'm in school but I feel like I'm slowly losing getting sick of it.

Big

being fat is harder on your testosterone levels than any amount of food.
Fat pretty much eats T.

I love beans and often eat them as a meal without anything else. I usually get dried pinto beans, soak them overnight in a good amount of water (enough to cover by a couple inches), then put them in the crock pot the next day. Use any spices you like. Cook on low all day.

Bolognese, the king of meat sauces, pairs extraordinarily well with homemade tagliatelli. For store bought, ziti will do you well.

Keep leftover glass/plastic containers and pour in the cold oil. Absolutely never pour it down the drain unless you love outrageous plumber bills.

Get into hot sauces?

The sternum. Its cartilage. You have one as well.

do not do this

lads, when i make tea now, it tastes awful.
nothing has changed, i boil my water, brew it, toss in a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of milk.
i use english breakfast, earl grey or peppermint.
ive tried using a different pot but it still tastes bad, should i just omit the milk?

Why are cheeseburgers bad for you? I mean they have vegetables, so are they really that bad?

grind panko first.

Slice onions 1/4in wide first.

batter = milk with flour to thicken. salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic granules

flour onions, batter, panko, fry.

Hot seller

Might be the water.

It's the grease from the meat, but if drained right it's not bad for you at all.

...

are carrot fries good?

they're a starchy vegetable like potatoes.

I've roasted carrots until they looked just like that. They are good, but nothing at all like fries.

Can I substitute fresh cilantro in guacamole with dried cilantro or should I just skip it if I don't have fresh? I just realized I don't have any fresh cilantro and don't want to waste 45 minutes running to the store.

Important question
I'm getting an induction plate for my dorm room, whats a good brand to go for?

I'm eating almost exclusively fast food but I wanna start eating better. I hate cooking, can barely boil eggs.
What are some "easy but healthy" meals I can get away with?

imo cilantro loses pretty much all its flavor when dried,

These lads know all about healthy eating
The sticky probably has info too

What chilis do you guys use when making chili? Last time I used Ancho and Guajillo, but it came out a little fruity and I guess sweet? I think it was the Guajillo that did it since I usually like Anchos, not sure what I should put in with the Anchos this time. Or if you know better than me just whatever you use.

I love em all. Try serrano, jalapeño, habanero if you like it spicy.

why does butter absorb the flavors of my fridge?

i can't keep an open stick of butter or else it tastes like fridge air

It's just what fat does. I keep my sticks in the little compartment in the door and they never pick up any flavors though. You can try keeping an open box of baking soda to neutralize it.

I meant for dried chilis to roast and grind into it, I usually use serrano's and a little habanero as well but the dried chilli's make the flavor really interesting.

Aha, I read it too quick. I have used pasilla as well, might try those. Here's an article with some more info:

seriouseats.com/2015/01/how-to-clean-and-prepare-dried-chilies-chili-powder-substitute.html

>calcium
>the sun
Nigger what?

Why does this thread exist if Google also exists?

Flour -> egg-> flour again creates a really nice coating. Reminds me of the McDonald’s chicken selects. Season the flour how you like. I fry em, but you could spray with oil and bake, flip halfway down and spray the other side to get them somewhat crispy

I'm experimenting with a cake recipe, and the most recent batch was good, but very dense, almost bread-like.
How does one make a cake less dense? More baking powder?

How long should it go in the oven for, and at what temperature?

camaraderie of like-minded folks

>More baking powder?
maybe. post recipe.

Well, the original recipe is allrecipes.com/recipe/84857/ono-butter-mochi/
It turned out just fine when I followed it.

But I was interested in whether the rice flour could be substituted 1:1 for regular flour, because if it could, then I was going to try making a batch with 50/50 rice flour and regular flour, because I think the texture would be interesting.
So I tried making a batch with all regular flour instead of rice flour, and it worked, but the cake it produced was overly dense. I'd like to get the texture closer to that of a normal cake before I try mixing some rice flour in. Otherwise it might just become a more grainy version of the original recipe, without much other textural difference.

I'm making weed edibles, and I don't want the finished product to taste like chlorophyll. Will blanching the bud beforehand get rid of the smell/taste, or is it just a meme?

Your best bet to mitigate the weed taste is to find a flavor that masks it well. You won't be able to treat the weed prior to to remove it's natural flavor.

you may have just over-mixed the batter. you generally do not want to mix wheat flour and water too much in a cake because it will form gluten like in bread. i'd use the 50-50 mix, and then barely stir the batter just until the flour disappears, like you're making muffins or quick bread. if that didn't work, then i'd increase the baking powder.

going to the store. quick, suggest me an easy to make, interesting dish to buy ingredients for

Alright, I'll try that, thanks.

I haven't taken a shit in over 48 hours and I'm really starting to get worried
I sucked down a bunch of dried apricots and water which normally makes me shit a huge log, I've tried walking, jogging, sprinting, squatting nothing is making my bowls move. What should I do?

Is Jack a satire/paradoy of cooking channels, or is he serious? I don't believe anyone is actually that bad while trying, it must be a joke

he is absolutely serious