Randomly
Food chat corrections.
Baltimore, MD: Hi Kim! I have a butternut squash question--how to I cut/peel it without severing an artery?? [...] Usually I just take my chances, but I have a good record of cutting myself.
Are you somehow disabled? Do you have two fully-functional arms? Do you know that the sharp side of the knife goes against the squash? Is it actually a squash and not a cinder block that you're cutting? I'm not totally clear on what the problem is, here. A squash is not really armored in any way. You should be able to cut one with a knife without knowing any special technique.
Do you go to online chats about housewares and ask for instructions on wiping your ass, too? If you can't figure out how to cut a squash, put down the knife and go play in traffic, you aren't fit to cook.
Kim O'Donnel: Balto, the last thing we want is for you to be rushed off to the ER due to a butternut squash.
Well, I wouldn't exactly say that's the last thing we want...
When you put the squash in the mike, did you poke it all around with a fork? And do you have a large/sharp enough knife to plow through it just once, so that the squash is in two halves?
"Did you cover it in mustard and wrap it in tempeh?"
Attleboro, MA: Re: BN squash. Cut off both ends and then cut in half across. Peel with an OXO peeler.
Really? An OXO peeler, you say?
It's not that everything that OXO makes is crap. It's just that, when OXO makes a bad product, that product fails in such an epic way that the only way to restore the cosmic balance of the universe is to seek out the person who designed it and spray their cat with a garden hose.
Their peelers are a good example of that, especially the horizontal ones. The entire rash of horizontal peelers is kind of annoying to me. If the thing you're peeling requires the kind of long, straight strokes that a horizontal peeler can make, it can be done faster and better with a knife. If it requires small curved peeling, that's what a straight peeler and a thumb excel at. The horizontal peeler is the Jennifer Lopez of the kitchen: useless to anyone that matters, and matters only to people who are useless.
Even the vertical peeler is a swivel peeler, which presents a problem, as it doesn't know how much to take off until I apply pressure telling it how much to take off, which I can't control if the blade is wiggling. These devices would be great if you needed to take the same amount of flesh off of everything to peel it. But you don't. You want to peel very, very lightly if you're taking off zest to candy it; you want to peel taro with a heavy hand to remove the fibrous outside; and everything else, from artichokes to zucchini, has its own structure and subsequent depth requirement. None of them can be accomplished if the cutting blade of the peeler is wiggling around. So basically, swivel peelers killed Jesus. In fact, it would've been better if they just killed Jesus, because I can prove that the broccoli rabe they ruin actually existed at some point.
Meanwhile, all OXO handheld products suffer from the same disease: the giant, goofy rubber handles that make these things adored by arthritis sufferers. While I appreciate the value of that market niche, trying to flute a mushroom while holding a softball-sized blob of rubber is like trying to thread a needle with a Chipotle burrito.
In short, I can tell by your humping an OXO product that you are very old and that makes me sad for your imminent death. Which I hope comes quickly.
Kim O'Donnel: [...] I like the peeling idea.
Yeah... peeling... novel.
Butternut squash: Here is what I do. Cut the "bulb" off from the "neck" of the squash. Cut the stem end off of the neck. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the peel from the "neck." Cut the "neck" into slices and then cube. Cut the blossom end off of the "bulb." Use a vegetable peeler to remove the peel (just like an apple). Cut "bulb" in half and scoope out seeds. Cut the "bulb" halves into cubes.
Oh yeah? Well, I think someone should cut the "head" from the "neck" of your "body" such that you "die" because you are an "unnecessary" quotation mark "abusing" mother "fucker."
Kim O'Donnel: More peeling tips!
I know, it surprised me, too!
Virginia Beach, VA: Hi Kim. Do you have any experience with making a King's Cake? If so, do you have a recipe for one?
Did you have a particular King in mind? Unless you meant a king cake, rather than a king's cake, the former being a a specific New Orleans tradition and the latter being any random cake a King happens to eat. Do you know's when's and how's to make's thing's possessive's? 'cause this isn't one of those times, you shit's head.
Kim O'Donnel: Wow, that one slipped off my radar. Indeed it's Ephiphany today. I've never tested it, but I've got a Mardi Gras King Cake recipe that comes from my copy of "Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine" that would do the trick.
I'd make fun of Kim for helpfully reading a book for these people, but I think they genuinely might not be able to do that themselves.
Hoppin' John ... hold the meat!: Kim, On my way to a meeting, but want to THANK YOU for making me "brave" to try Hoppin' John using the "real" black eye peas ... not canned or frozen! I may now be brave enough to try other beans from the "soaker to the plate!"
I don't know if I've ever seen anyone fit so much stupidity into one fluid motion. It's like watching someone fall down a flight of stairs into a manhole while on roller skates and carrying a box of knives.
First of all--and I have no idea why this is so hard for you fucking morons--it's "black-eyed peas." Not "black eye peas." See, "black-eyed" is one of those fancy things they call an adjective. While "black" is an adjective, "eye" is a noun, and that makes "black eye peas" a list of two unrelated things, one of which happens to be black, while "black-eyed peas" is an actual thing you can eat. You moron.
Second, I'm baffled that you think "real" black-eyed peas are dried. Really? You think they grow from a dried plant in dry ground?
Third, it's generally not considered a mark of bravery that you managed to stare down a legume. Try staring down a book sometime, you semiliterate buffoon.
Fourth, you seem extraordinarily proud of making "Hoppin' John." Congratulations, you've replicated the accomplishment of poor dirt farmers everywhere. Oh no wait, you didn't, because you "held the meat." Instead you replicated the accomplishment of yuppie white people on their way to Bath and Body Works to get a hand soap that matches the color of their guest towels. Good job, shithead.
Big freaking deal. Hoppin' John is repulsive. You are repulsive. I am repulsed by you and your Hoppin' John. I want to make you a black-eyed moron. Or, as you would say, "black eye moron," you adjective-confused fuck.
Kim O'Donnel: So glad you enjoyed and are finding your way with beans. They are probably my favorite thing to eat, period. I can eat beans every day.
Ladies and gentlemen, reason number #52 not to spend time around Kim O'Donnel.
San Francisco, Calif: Bought a 14 oz. tub of lite sour cream by mistake... [a]ny suggestions for using it up? No desserts or other fat/calorie-laden concoctions, please.
So you buy a container (14 ounces is hardly a "tub") of a substance that is probably around 10% fat and then request instructions on how to use it to make something that doesn't have a lot of fat. Oh, hey, here's an idea: use the sour cream to grease the knob on your oven so it turns on easily, then put your head inside. That's a recipe that's sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
"Lite" sour cream is basically sour half-and-half. You can use it wherever you might use regular half-and-half and where the taste of lactic acid won't bother you: soups, sauces, salad dressings and dips are the obvious ones and probably the only ones you're capable of doing, since you had to ask this question, but they're not the only ones.
You can use lite sour cream to make biscuits or muffin-like breads, like banana bread. You can stabilize it with flour, or mix it with butter, and use it to poach eggs. You can use it as a marinade and let the lactic acid break down animal proteins. You can mix it with yogurt for a tandoori base.
The chemical trick you need to remember is this: 30% fat is the magic number when it comes to diary products. If a dairy product is 30% fat or higher, you can boil it (because the fat content will be high enough to prevent it from curdling) or whip it (because the fat content will be high enough to let it trap air). Under 30%--like your lite sour cream--and it will curdle if heated and stay runny if whipped. (You can stir sour cream into a soup or sauce that's just come off the fire, but you can't drop some in and boil away.)
If you want to use it in some application that requires heating or whipping, you need to raise the fat content (the easy way) or add some kind of stabilizing starch or gum (the molecular gastronomy way). Or, you know, learn to read the package before you buy something, you simp.
Kim O'Donnel: I'm kinda stumped. Does this mean homemade onion dip w/caramelized onions is a no-no?
Well, sure, homemade onion dip is low fat. And Lindsay Lohan is a virgin, and I'm the King of Siam.
Butternut : I learned from a wonderful recipe from Runner's World,
Aw Christ.
and subsequently several from Veg Times,
Oh Jesus Baby-raping Christ.
that b'nut skin is entirely edible. I now eat most squash skins after cooking.
You can eat a ream of office paper (or p'per as you would call it, you goddamn pathetic excuse for a sentient being) if you want to, but that doesn't make it a good idea, either. Next time get your tips from a magazine of people who, y'know, like food somehow. Not people who run away from it, or who said, "You know who has a sweet place in the food chain? Cows."
Kim O'Donnel: On a similar note, I love the skin on delicata squash.
Why? Because it's yellow and brown, like mustard?
Alexandria, VA: Kim, just wanted to say thanks
I JUST WANTED TO SAY DIE OF AIDS now we're both happy.
Washington, D.C.: Kim, just a comment about
HOW HORRIBLY SMALL YOUR BRAIN IS okay, we got it, moving on.
Vegetarian entree?: Oy. I am not used to making vegetarian entrees, but I need to for an upcoming dinner party. The reason I am having a difficult time is because there are constraints around it . . . they are: no tofu; not Italian; and no squash/eggplant/those types of vegetables. I personally am not a big fan of beans...
Any other constraints? Nothing green, perhaps? The name can't contain any vowels? Not visible under normal light? Must be able to whistle the national anthem? Any other asinine restrictions you want to put on this, princess? Develop a palate, you savage piece of filth.
Anyhow, the main thing, as far as I can tell, that distinguishes a vegetarian entree from a meat-eater's person's side dish is that they put it on, under, or between the starch. Somehow, that makes it a meal.
A pile of spinach? Side dish. A pile of spinach wrapped in a tortilla? Entree!
A tomato salad? Side dish. Diced tomato between slices of roasted yams? Entree!
A scoop of spicy okra? Side dish. A scoop of spicy okra over rice? Entree!
If there's a better strategy for this, I don't know. Besides, I'm disinclined to help you because you say no Italian food.
Kim O'Donnel: Yes! [...] Take a look at the veggie pot pie with cheddar crust!
This makes me feel sad in my heart, mostly because I envision someone being thrilled to get a cheddar-crust pot pie and then discovering it's a bunch of fucking peas and carrots in béchamel.
sour cream recipe: You could make a Chicken Paprikash with sour cream. If that doesn't appeal then check out other hungarian dishes - many of them use sour cream. [recipe follows]
The recipe involves boiling the sour cream. The sour cream would curdle. Thanks for playing, and go to fucking hell.
Eastern European sour creams typically hover just above 30% fat. You can boil them. American sour cream is far lower fat, not out of any health concern but because we put much more fat in our butter than Europe does. You cannot boil American sour creams; they will curdle. And American light sour creams will absolutely, positively curdle far below boiling.
Kim O'Donnel: Fab. Now we're talking.
Now we're talking--about serving people curdled cream, genius.
Chantilly, VA: I love this recipe for mushroom stroganoff and I always use light sour cream. [recipe follows]
Okay, this calls for mixing arrowroot (one of the more refined thickeners) into a sour cream mixture with sherry in it and then heating it until it thickens slightly. This might work, but it's not exactly an optimal thing.
Acidity (like in sherry) and heat can both cause sour cream to curdle, and the flavor of the sour cream will not be improved by cooking it even if it doesn't. You might get away with this because the arrowroot might hold the sour cream together, but the thickening power of arrowroot is greatest after the mixture hits a boil. It makes far more sense, and provides a richer texture and greater intensity of flavor, to just add the sour cream off the heat.
But for being the first person in the chat who isn't a total fuck-up, you get a check. No check-plus-plus today, though.
Kim O'Donnel: Excellent -- I knew someone would come through with a 'shroomy stroggie!
... said the 'tardy time-wastie!
Washington, DC: I froze a bunch of peaches (peeled, cubed and tossed with lemon juice) and now I want to eat them! Other than making smoothies, any suggestions on what to do with them?
Use them to obstruct your airway! It's fun! Mostly for me, but still--fun!
Freezing peaches will (as it does for anything else) make the water in them form ice crystals that'll shred the flesh somewhat, with the net result being that your peaches will have a cooked texture rather than a fresh texture. So you definitely have serve them in a way you'd want to find cooked peaches, or puree them entirely. (To avoid cooking them twice, use them frozen in whatever you're heating.)
Peach flan would be my vote.
Kim O'Donnel: I believe a cobbler is in order. With biscuit crust. You game?
You don't think it's semi-important to mention you have to keep the peaches frozen or they'll turn into a pile of goo?
Re: Light Sour Cream: I have not had good luck with it in recipes where it would have to be heated.
No shit.
Kim O'Donnel: Ah, this is a useful tip...
Yes, if ONLY there was an expert around who could've provided it.
I have to skip some of these. They are just too, too stupid and are making me sick.
Arlington, VA: Kim, my wonderful boyfriend granted my wish and gave me a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas!
Wow. Way to give the finger to sexual politics, there. Play your cards right, Blondie, and Dagwood will get you a new vacuum cleaner for your birthday.
We've been on the road since then but now I'm back and wondering what I should make for my maiden mixer voyage. I've wanted one for years and always thought "if I just had a mixer, I could make..."
"... fewer excuses?"
There's virtually nothing you NEED a mixer to make. The only thing I can think of is homemade marshmallows, where the heat from the syrup actually might be too much for a human arm to take, and the speed with which you need to work might be too great for a human arm to replicate. But other than that, a mixer is a convenience.
Kim O'Donnel: Maybe we should start basic. Ever make pizza before?
Frankly, I'd be hesitant to send someone out to use a mixer to make pizza as their first time making pizza. Bread in general, and pizza in particular, depends on a lot of voodoo to go right, because there are variables that change every time: the moisture in the flour, the humidity in the air, how evenly the oven heats, and a dozen other nuances. One learns to recognize them by touch, and a mixer burns through the stages of bread so fast that it's not even an ideal tool for basic breaducation. (HA! I SLAY ME!)
Further affiant sayeth naught, because I need to go soak some cats.
Baltimore, MD: Hi Kim! I have a butternut squash question--how to I cut/peel it without severing an artery?? [...] Usually I just take my chances, but I have a good record of cutting myself.
Are you somehow disabled? Do you have two fully-functional arms? Do you know that the sharp side of the knife goes against the squash? Is it actually a squash and not a cinder block that you're cutting? I'm not totally clear on what the problem is, here. A squash is not really armored in any way. You should be able to cut one with a knife without knowing any special technique.
Do you go to online chats about housewares and ask for instructions on wiping your ass, too? If you can't figure out how to cut a squash, put down the knife and go play in traffic, you aren't fit to cook.
Kim O'Donnel: Balto, the last thing we want is for you to be rushed off to the ER due to a butternut squash.
Well, I wouldn't exactly say that's the last thing we want...
When you put the squash in the mike, did you poke it all around with a fork? And do you have a large/sharp enough knife to plow through it just once, so that the squash is in two halves?
"Did you cover it in mustard and wrap it in tempeh?"
Attleboro, MA: Re: BN squash. Cut off both ends and then cut in half across. Peel with an OXO peeler.
Really? An OXO peeler, you say?
It's not that everything that OXO makes is crap. It's just that, when OXO makes a bad product, that product fails in such an epic way that the only way to restore the cosmic balance of the universe is to seek out the person who designed it and spray their cat with a garden hose.
Their peelers are a good example of that, especially the horizontal ones. The entire rash of horizontal peelers is kind of annoying to me. If the thing you're peeling requires the kind of long, straight strokes that a horizontal peeler can make, it can be done faster and better with a knife. If it requires small curved peeling, that's what a straight peeler and a thumb excel at. The horizontal peeler is the Jennifer Lopez of the kitchen: useless to anyone that matters, and matters only to people who are useless.
Even the vertical peeler is a swivel peeler, which presents a problem, as it doesn't know how much to take off until I apply pressure telling it how much to take off, which I can't control if the blade is wiggling. These devices would be great if you needed to take the same amount of flesh off of everything to peel it. But you don't. You want to peel very, very lightly if you're taking off zest to candy it; you want to peel taro with a heavy hand to remove the fibrous outside; and everything else, from artichokes to zucchini, has its own structure and subsequent depth requirement. None of them can be accomplished if the cutting blade of the peeler is wiggling around. So basically, swivel peelers killed Jesus. In fact, it would've been better if they just killed Jesus, because I can prove that the broccoli rabe they ruin actually existed at some point.
Meanwhile, all OXO handheld products suffer from the same disease: the giant, goofy rubber handles that make these things adored by arthritis sufferers. While I appreciate the value of that market niche, trying to flute a mushroom while holding a softball-sized blob of rubber is like trying to thread a needle with a Chipotle burrito.
In short, I can tell by your humping an OXO product that you are very old and that makes me sad for your imminent death. Which I hope comes quickly.
Kim O'Donnel: [...] I like the peeling idea.
Yeah... peeling... novel.
Butternut squash: Here is what I do. Cut the "bulb" off from the "neck" of the squash. Cut the stem end off of the neck. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the peel from the "neck." Cut the "neck" into slices and then cube. Cut the blossom end off of the "bulb." Use a vegetable peeler to remove the peel (just like an apple). Cut "bulb" in half and scoope out seeds. Cut the "bulb" halves into cubes.
Oh yeah? Well, I think someone should cut the "head" from the "neck" of your "body" such that you "die" because you are an "unnecessary" quotation mark "abusing" mother "fucker."
Kim O'Donnel: More peeling tips!
I know, it surprised me, too!
Virginia Beach, VA: Hi Kim. Do you have any experience with making a King's Cake? If so, do you have a recipe for one?
Did you have a particular King in mind? Unless you meant a king cake, rather than a king's cake, the former being a a specific New Orleans tradition and the latter being any random cake a King happens to eat. Do you know's when's and how's to make's thing's possessive's? 'cause this isn't one of those times, you shit's head.
Kim O'Donnel: Wow, that one slipped off my radar. Indeed it's Ephiphany today. I've never tested it, but I've got a Mardi Gras King Cake recipe that comes from my copy of "Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine" that would do the trick.
I'd make fun of Kim for helpfully reading a book for these people, but I think they genuinely might not be able to do that themselves.
Hoppin' John ... hold the meat!: Kim, On my way to a meeting, but want to THANK YOU for making me "brave" to try Hoppin' John using the "real" black eye peas ... not canned or frozen! I may now be brave enough to try other beans from the "soaker to the plate!"
I don't know if I've ever seen anyone fit so much stupidity into one fluid motion. It's like watching someone fall down a flight of stairs into a manhole while on roller skates and carrying a box of knives.
First of all--and I have no idea why this is so hard for you fucking morons--it's "black-eyed peas." Not "black eye peas." See, "black-eyed" is one of those fancy things they call an adjective. While "black" is an adjective, "eye" is a noun, and that makes "black eye peas" a list of two unrelated things, one of which happens to be black, while "black-eyed peas" is an actual thing you can eat. You moron.
Second, I'm baffled that you think "real" black-eyed peas are dried. Really? You think they grow from a dried plant in dry ground?
Third, it's generally not considered a mark of bravery that you managed to stare down a legume. Try staring down a book sometime, you semiliterate buffoon.
Fourth, you seem extraordinarily proud of making "Hoppin' John." Congratulations, you've replicated the accomplishment of poor dirt farmers everywhere. Oh no wait, you didn't, because you "held the meat." Instead you replicated the accomplishment of yuppie white people on their way to Bath and Body Works to get a hand soap that matches the color of their guest towels. Good job, shithead.
Big freaking deal. Hoppin' John is repulsive. You are repulsive. I am repulsed by you and your Hoppin' John. I want to make you a black-eyed moron. Or, as you would say, "black eye moron," you adjective-confused fuck.
Kim O'Donnel: So glad you enjoyed and are finding your way with beans. They are probably my favorite thing to eat, period. I can eat beans every day.
Ladies and gentlemen, reason number #52 not to spend time around Kim O'Donnel.
San Francisco, Calif: Bought a 14 oz. tub of lite sour cream by mistake... [a]ny suggestions for using it up? No desserts or other fat/calorie-laden concoctions, please.
So you buy a container (14 ounces is hardly a "tub") of a substance that is probably around 10% fat and then request instructions on how to use it to make something that doesn't have a lot of fat. Oh, hey, here's an idea: use the sour cream to grease the knob on your oven so it turns on easily, then put your head inside. That's a recipe that's sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
"Lite" sour cream is basically sour half-and-half. You can use it wherever you might use regular half-and-half and where the taste of lactic acid won't bother you: soups, sauces, salad dressings and dips are the obvious ones and probably the only ones you're capable of doing, since you had to ask this question, but they're not the only ones.
You can use lite sour cream to make biscuits or muffin-like breads, like banana bread. You can stabilize it with flour, or mix it with butter, and use it to poach eggs. You can use it as a marinade and let the lactic acid break down animal proteins. You can mix it with yogurt for a tandoori base.
The chemical trick you need to remember is this: 30% fat is the magic number when it comes to diary products. If a dairy product is 30% fat or higher, you can boil it (because the fat content will be high enough to prevent it from curdling) or whip it (because the fat content will be high enough to let it trap air). Under 30%--like your lite sour cream--and it will curdle if heated and stay runny if whipped. (You can stir sour cream into a soup or sauce that's just come off the fire, but you can't drop some in and boil away.)
If you want to use it in some application that requires heating or whipping, you need to raise the fat content (the easy way) or add some kind of stabilizing starch or gum (the molecular gastronomy way). Or, you know, learn to read the package before you buy something, you simp.
Kim O'Donnel: I'm kinda stumped. Does this mean homemade onion dip w/caramelized onions is a no-no?
Well, sure, homemade onion dip is low fat. And Lindsay Lohan is a virgin, and I'm the King of Siam.
Butternut : I learned from a wonderful recipe from Runner's World,
Aw Christ.
and subsequently several from Veg Times,
Oh Jesus Baby-raping Christ.
that b'nut skin is entirely edible. I now eat most squash skins after cooking.
You can eat a ream of office paper (or p'per as you would call it, you goddamn pathetic excuse for a sentient being) if you want to, but that doesn't make it a good idea, either. Next time get your tips from a magazine of people who, y'know, like food somehow. Not people who run away from it, or who said, "You know who has a sweet place in the food chain? Cows."
Kim O'Donnel: On a similar note, I love the skin on delicata squash.
Why? Because it's yellow and brown, like mustard?
Alexandria, VA: Kim, just wanted to say thanks
I JUST WANTED TO SAY DIE OF AIDS now we're both happy.
Washington, D.C.: Kim, just a comment about
HOW HORRIBLY SMALL YOUR BRAIN IS okay, we got it, moving on.
Vegetarian entree?: Oy. I am not used to making vegetarian entrees, but I need to for an upcoming dinner party. The reason I am having a difficult time is because there are constraints around it . . . they are: no tofu; not Italian; and no squash/eggplant/those types of vegetables. I personally am not a big fan of beans...
Any other constraints? Nothing green, perhaps? The name can't contain any vowels? Not visible under normal light? Must be able to whistle the national anthem? Any other asinine restrictions you want to put on this, princess? Develop a palate, you savage piece of filth.
Anyhow, the main thing, as far as I can tell, that distinguishes a vegetarian entree from a meat-eater's person's side dish is that they put it on, under, or between the starch. Somehow, that makes it a meal.
A pile of spinach? Side dish. A pile of spinach wrapped in a tortilla? Entree!
A tomato salad? Side dish. Diced tomato between slices of roasted yams? Entree!
A scoop of spicy okra? Side dish. A scoop of spicy okra over rice? Entree!
If there's a better strategy for this, I don't know. Besides, I'm disinclined to help you because you say no Italian food.
Kim O'Donnel: Yes! [...] Take a look at the veggie pot pie with cheddar crust!
This makes me feel sad in my heart, mostly because I envision someone being thrilled to get a cheddar-crust pot pie and then discovering it's a bunch of fucking peas and carrots in béchamel.
sour cream recipe: You could make a Chicken Paprikash with sour cream. If that doesn't appeal then check out other hungarian dishes - many of them use sour cream. [recipe follows]
The recipe involves boiling the sour cream. The sour cream would curdle. Thanks for playing, and go to fucking hell.
Eastern European sour creams typically hover just above 30% fat. You can boil them. American sour cream is far lower fat, not out of any health concern but because we put much more fat in our butter than Europe does. You cannot boil American sour creams; they will curdle. And American light sour creams will absolutely, positively curdle far below boiling.
Kim O'Donnel: Fab. Now we're talking.
Now we're talking--about serving people curdled cream, genius.
Chantilly, VA: I love this recipe for mushroom stroganoff and I always use light sour cream. [recipe follows]
Okay, this calls for mixing arrowroot (one of the more refined thickeners) into a sour cream mixture with sherry in it and then heating it until it thickens slightly. This might work, but it's not exactly an optimal thing.
Acidity (like in sherry) and heat can both cause sour cream to curdle, and the flavor of the sour cream will not be improved by cooking it even if it doesn't. You might get away with this because the arrowroot might hold the sour cream together, but the thickening power of arrowroot is greatest after the mixture hits a boil. It makes far more sense, and provides a richer texture and greater intensity of flavor, to just add the sour cream off the heat.
But for being the first person in the chat who isn't a total fuck-up, you get a check. No check-plus-plus today, though.
Kim O'Donnel: Excellent -- I knew someone would come through with a 'shroomy stroggie!
... said the 'tardy time-wastie!
Washington, DC: I froze a bunch of peaches (peeled, cubed and tossed with lemon juice) and now I want to eat them! Other than making smoothies, any suggestions on what to do with them?
Use them to obstruct your airway! It's fun! Mostly for me, but still--fun!
Freezing peaches will (as it does for anything else) make the water in them form ice crystals that'll shred the flesh somewhat, with the net result being that your peaches will have a cooked texture rather than a fresh texture. So you definitely have serve them in a way you'd want to find cooked peaches, or puree them entirely. (To avoid cooking them twice, use them frozen in whatever you're heating.)
Peach flan would be my vote.
Kim O'Donnel: I believe a cobbler is in order. With biscuit crust. You game?
You don't think it's semi-important to mention you have to keep the peaches frozen or they'll turn into a pile of goo?
Re: Light Sour Cream: I have not had good luck with it in recipes where it would have to be heated.
No shit.
Kim O'Donnel: Ah, this is a useful tip...
Yes, if ONLY there was an expert around who could've provided it.
I have to skip some of these. They are just too, too stupid and are making me sick.
Arlington, VA: Kim, my wonderful boyfriend granted my wish and gave me a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas!
Wow. Way to give the finger to sexual politics, there. Play your cards right, Blondie, and Dagwood will get you a new vacuum cleaner for your birthday.
We've been on the road since then but now I'm back and wondering what I should make for my maiden mixer voyage. I've wanted one for years and always thought "if I just had a mixer, I could make..."
"... fewer excuses?"
There's virtually nothing you NEED a mixer to make. The only thing I can think of is homemade marshmallows, where the heat from the syrup actually might be too much for a human arm to take, and the speed with which you need to work might be too great for a human arm to replicate. But other than that, a mixer is a convenience.
Kim O'Donnel: Maybe we should start basic. Ever make pizza before?
Frankly, I'd be hesitant to send someone out to use a mixer to make pizza as their first time making pizza. Bread in general, and pizza in particular, depends on a lot of voodoo to go right, because there are variables that change every time: the moisture in the flour, the humidity in the air, how evenly the oven heats, and a dozen other nuances. One learns to recognize them by touch, and a mixer burns through the stages of bread so fast that it's not even an ideal tool for basic breaducation. (HA! I SLAY ME!)
Further affiant sayeth naught, because I need to go soak some cats.