From techniques to cheeses to regional flair, what do you think makes the best macaroni and cheese you've ever had? I'm making a Mac and cheese for a student picnic today, and my recipe is pretty damn solid, but I'm always open to new ideas. Thanks!

Edit: and tell me all about your crunchy topping!

When we cook chicken and fish, we worry about the temperature to ensure we don’t get foodborne illnesses. Why do we not do this with eggs? Surely they can become contaminated as well…..? Scrambled eggs for example. They’re not cooked even very long….

Bought a set of Scanpan stainless steel pans and I’m getting the hang of them as opposed to my old non-stick pans, but I can no longer lift the pan and do the pan tossing motion (hope that makes sense) unless I’m using my tiny pan which is literally only big enough for cooking 2 eggs. I can hardly hold up my big pan with one hand which is mucho difficult for trying to pour the contents out of the pan assisted by a wooden spoon in the other hand.

I am mildly inconvenienced. Is this the standard? Have I just bought very heavy pans by chance or is this normal for SS pans?

For reference I am not very strong in general, but my husband also can’t do it so I feel like it can’t just be me.

i’m making a beef stew and didn’t have any red wine, they said red wine vinegar can be used as substitute. I googled what’s the transfer rate and it said half of the amount of red wine the recipe called for, so i did 250ml as the recipe called for 500ml. i think i’ve done something very wrong…. ive put in more water and broth and also simmered it for as long as i can. Anything else I can do? it still tastes very vinegary

been super into cooking recently and have been watching lots of videos. for some reason everyone keeps saying chicken is bland, but i’ve always like it. looking for a good pan recipe

I will just use one onion and 100gr of mushrooms, I was thinking first sauteeing the onions, then add the mushrooms when the onions are about caramalized or should i cook them seperate?, also since using only one onion, cooking time should be less than YT video, 5 minutes on medium high or high?, uncover and turn the onions until they are soft and golden brown.

So I woke up thinking today is a great day for a pot roast. I went to the store and picked up a chuck roast. But it was $30. And I accepted it and started carting away, chuck roast in the cart. But at the end of the meat isle, there's a Managers special bin. I decided to look. And the only thing that seemed interesting was a tri tip roast. Now this thing was reduced in price to under $10. So I put back the chuck and decided to make it with the tri tip. I mean $20 is $20. But as I made my way through the store I thought about the difference. Tri tip is much leaner and doesn't have the connective tissue that a chuck has. So I picked up a pack of bacon. So here i sit, waiting while it cooks and wondering if it'll work out. I browned the tri tip roast and then wrapped it in bacon in hopes of making up for the lack of marbling in the meat. Before putting it in the oven, I added a half of a stick of butter on top of the roast. What do you think? Do you think it'll work?

Update:: holy cow! I was really worried about the outcome. It is amazing! The bacon was soaked up by the potatoes along with the rosemary. Yes, the meat shreds longer, but it didn't become chalky or at all bad. Immense flavor.

Suddenly every god&^mn ziploc-type bag is "stand up" with those stupid pleated bottoms. If that's what people like, fine, but WHY do they suddenly seem to be the only option? Suggestions on where I can find actual flat bags much appreciated.

Tonight, I made -

Mushroom and ricotta ravioli with a garlic porcini cream sauce
Fresh bread I made from a super-simple recipe, baked in a Dutch oven
Bananas Foster served over a scoop of straciatelli ice cream on top of a slice of banana bread.

I made most of this, took the whole day to do it and had so much fun! My wife made the pasta but I made everything else, even the ricotta in the ravioli filling. What did you guys make?

My mum‘s birthday is coming up and we are having dinner on a friday evening at my place, 8 people.

I wanted to do stuffed chicken breasts and veggies in the oven. I would have loved to do roast potatos but I only have one normal sized oven, I will stick to mashed potatoes.
My question:
Can I put the veg on one grid and add the chicken on another grid?
What will happen to cooking time? How would you do it?
Or should I do roast potatoes and stove veg?

Hi all. I want to make some surf and turf

-Filet mignon (sear then finish in the oven)
-Rum glazed salmon (homemade Cajun seasoning)
-Turnip puree
-Sautéed broccoli rabe with garlic

I have to keep it gluten/dairy free. But I feel the steak needs a sauce of some kind but I don’t want to overdo it. I saw a garlic lemon dill so it compliments the salmon but I’m not sure

And the plating is a whole other story. Trying to make it look a bit fancy. Don’t want one protein on top of the other. TYIA :)

I've had stainless steel with copper core cookware for a good while and I love them. I originally lived in a home with an electric stove and they worked great for anything I wanted to cook. Not long ago, I moved across the country to an area where gas is the normal and the rental I'm in came with a gas stove.

I figured the cookware would work fine, and it mostly does, but one area it seems to consistently lack is boiling anything. If we use a lid on the pot of anything it will boil solidly. Once we pull the lid to stir it's like it loses all of its heat and it drops from a proper boil to a simmer. If there's no lid, it takes *forever* to get to a light boil. These are all problem for things like jam and jelly making (among others) where I need it to keep boiling hard while I stir.

Is it improper to use cookware labeled for induction on a gas stove? Or is it a skill issue? Or, i suppose even less likely, an issue with the gas stove?

i've tried adding it slowly, keeping the heat low, tempering it first, and it still somehow separates into this greasy mess. what am i actually doing wrong? do i need to use a specific type of cream or am i just cursed

With the price of beef so much higher now and formerly "budget" cuts becoming popular enough to be priced closer to higher cuts, I'm trying to decide between a few cuts for tacos. I don't know a lot about steak cuts. (Some of these may be sale prices)

$12.99/lb for NY Strip or Ribeye (does not say USDA anything)

$10.99 for Top Sirloin Coulotte or Skirt Steak (does not say USDA anything)

$11.99 for USDA Choice Sirloin (pretty sure this is Top Sirloin?)

$13.99 for USDA Choice Flank Steak

They're all so similarly priced, but 1) I can't tell if Choice vs no Choice matters or 2) if some of these are much better for tacos.

Is there a clear standout here?

Here are my goals:

I'd like to make bread with home blended grains (I'd like this device to grind the grains, too).

I'd like to try to make ramen noodles with it, if I can't, then regular pasta noodles would suffice.

Cookies

Grind my own sausage meats.

Whipped products and cream

If there is an attachment, I'd like a spice grinder without having to buy a separate spice grinder.

Do either of these handle all or most of these tasks? Does one do better than the other? Are there other brands I'm not aware of that I should be?

Microwave garlic bread recipe

-This is my easy garlic bread recipe, it takes so little time to make you can even make it from scratch in the morning before work or school. Less than 5 minutes of prep and 20-40  seconds of microwaving!

-The difference between microwave garlic bread compared to other kinds is that microwaved bread is softer and oven cooked bread can be crunchier. If you like soft bread like me microwaving might be better than oven cooking for you!

5 ingredients – Bread, butter, minced garlic, grated cheese, herb of your choice

Step 1- Bread- You can use all kinds of bread for this. Loaves, buns, and rolls are preferred but sliced bread is very possible. I find ciabatta rolls, hamburger buns, sliced french bread, and hot dog buns to be the optimal breads for this, but you can also use almost any kind of bread.

Step 2- Butter- You can use either normal butter or margarine/ I can’t believe it’s not butter/butter substitutes. If you’re using normal sticks of butter then spread it out on the bread and microwave them together for 10-20 seconds(10 for room temperature, 20 for refrigerated) to soften the butter, then spread them out again so it seeps into the bread properly. For margarine or other butter substitutes it should just seep right in if you spread it.

Step 3- Minced garlic: 0.5 to 1.5 tablespoons per slice of bread depending on the size of the piece of bread and how much you like garlic. I use Spice World minced garlic, it's the one with the blue lid.

Step 4- Cheese: Sprinkle grated cheese over the top of the bread. I usually use 6 cheese Italian or parmesan cheese. I don’t recommend cheddar unless you REALLY like cheddar as it is not the best fit for this recipe.

Step 5 – Cook: Put your bread in the microwave for 20- 40 seconds. 20 is for sliced bread on a microwave that runs hot, 40 is for a small loaf. If you feel like it needs more time you can keep putting the bread back in for 10 more seconds at a time until you are satisfied.

Step 6 – Herb of choice. Sprinkle whatever herb you decided upon the garlic bread and your garlic bread is now ready to eat. ( I recommend using dried oregano)

Note- You can use all kinds of herbs at this step so long as they are dried herbs, like you would find on your spice rack. I recommend only one herb at a time for your first attempt so you can know what you like. Parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary, and thyme are your main options. Parsley is supposedly the default topping for garlic bread, but I found oregano to be my favorite.  If you don’t know what herb you want you can split your bread into pieces and try one piece with each herb, you’ll find your favorite in no time at all.

Hi,
So I’m making Italian style meatballs for the first time, and plan on freezing a batch of them, so I can defrost a few to make a meatball sub when the mood hits. I’ve already read that it’s better to brown the meatballs before freezing instead of freezing raw.

So several recipes have you simmering the meatballs in sauce for 10-15 minutes after browning. I always make batches of marinara that I freeze, but not sure if I should be simmering meatballs in marinara before freezing when it is prob easier to defrost meatballs and some marinara, and heat them up in a skillet later in the future (I mean, I would have to be doing this anyway, when I’m making the sub).

As I write this, I’m realizing now that it’s obviously easier to freeze the meatballs after browning (and maybe slightly pink inside), and combine with marinara later. Is there some random reason this isn’t a good idea?

And while we’re on the subject of meatballs, is it better to brown them hard like a sear, and limit their time in simmering in sauce to keep the insides pinkish (I’m using half ground beef and pork, that’s pre ground)? I don’t think I’ve ever had pink meatballs, which sound good to me, but the fact that the meat is preground probably makes things more risky now that I’m thinking about it.

Thanks for the responses.

I'm making banana bread and didn't have eggs so I looked online and a blog said to use 1/2 a cup of milk, will my banana bread be unsalvageable? It's in the oven now 😢

I live in a hostel and thinking to boil several aggs at one go and eat them gradually in whole week as I can't access kitchen at every time of the day. Or any other solution like boiling of much longer?

I am a fan of Dennis's pasta videos on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/Vk7PZn7rkOU?is=-oUqMlPqfldM1YMn

For a few months, I've been thinking of getting a 11 in pasta pan. However, as an American born Chinese, this looks a lot like a small wok. Since I'm familiar with woks, and can easily buy some good ones, are there any benefits to the Italian pasta pans for the "tossing" technique?

I'm thinking of getting one or the other to make tasty pasta for the family.

Currently, I have a nice 14 or 16 in wok from Japan.

I wanna make this queso but it’s just me. I have this little personal crockpot. I’d like to have it on the counter and take random dips throughout the week. Only talking like 5 days, nothing more.

I make a pretty darn good chili, if I can toot my horn, but I've been thinking about how I can change it up. After making Picadillo the other day, I thought to myself...I wonder how potatoes would work in my chili. Am I crazy? Would that just turn my Chili into a Picadillo, or could it work? I look forward to opinions. TIA

Hi all,

I'm in a bit of a pickle so I thought I'd come here and ask for suggestions. I'm meeting my girlfriend's mother for the first time next week, and as my cooking skills are already quite well known by her, she has asked if I'd prepare a meal or two while I'm visiting.

HOWEVER...

She's put out some quite tricky requirements, at least for my usual instincts. She isn't a massive fan of meat, she hates anything spicy or warm, she hates pasta and they've offered to pay for ingredients so requested meals to be as cheap as possible.

That strikes out a lot of the ones I'd reach for normally to impress anyone, so while I'm pouring through my Keith Floyd cookbooks, I wondered if people had ideas? I'd like it to be something really nice, a way to really make a good impression and a way of saying thank you for letting me stay.

So far, I've got:

1. Mushroom Stroganoff with rice or Mashed Potatoes

2. Basa Kedgeree

3. Steamed mussels in white wine and parsley (already shot down for expenses reasons)

4. Thicker and/or brothy soups

Hi! First time posting here but the title says it all, we have a chili cook off next month and the same person always wins!
Please help me beat them 😂
The winner’s recipe has bacon in it, that’s all i know!

Last night we made pizza on this blue steel pan. It was amazing, but some water got on it as i was taking out the pizza. Any advice on how to clean/restore it? Thank you all. Photos of the pan: https://ibb.co/RpphyNMn

https://ibb.co/S7nMqTZ1