Mangela Lansbury Posted June 12, 2015 Wait, people don't use salt? Do you all not use pepper either? Stuff tastes so bland without it! I eat a lot of salad, but that still gets covered in salt, pepper and olive oil. Those 3 things go into practically everything I make. I never use salt as a main seasoning! I use pepper and olive oil and garlic, usually. If I ever use salt in a dish, it's generally sparing use just to get other herbs and spices to effervesce and come out a bit more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badfinger Posted June 12, 2015 I drop my salt intake every now and then and after a few weeks you realise that processed foods have a whole lot of salt in them. That said, my friend asked me how i made such tasty food one day, and my two word answer was "good seasoning". I eat a lot more cleanly now than I used to in my early adulthood. If I ever pig out and have a bunch of greasy delivery food, the thing that hits me the most isn't the hideous fat content, it's all the salt in the food. I wake up all dehydrated the next day. If I had to choose a single thing to season food with forever, it's salt. That's kind of a duh answer but it's true! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gaizokubanou Posted June 12, 2015 @Twig, I'm sorry to report that my search for cinnamon added tea is not going well. Asked my family members and they all gave me this bewildered look. Still looking though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted June 12, 2015 Haha, it's fine. Don't work too hard, I wasn't expecting to get a definitive answer! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mangela Lansbury Posted June 12, 2015 If you augment a standard chai recipe, you'll end up with a very cinnamony tea. You could also try boiling cinnamon and ginger for an hour or two or more (maybe a slow cooker?) and then adding more brown sugar than you think is appropriate. I had a Korean friend make a warm tea-like drink like that once. It had done additional stuff in it that I can't remember... I can ask about it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Griddlelol Posted June 17, 2015 I never use salt as a main seasoning! I use pepper and olive oil and garlic, usually. If I ever use salt in a dish, it's generally sparing use just to get other herbs and spices to effervesce and come out a bit more. I've heard that once you stop having salt, you adapt and a tiny amount is enough. I just love it so much I couldn't live without it for the time needed to adjust. I honestly don't watch my salt intake at all. The last time I had my blood pressure tested I was in the super "athlete level" which wasn't indicative of my fitness level, but just a genetic predisposition to having no blood pressure issues. My family has loads of shit illnesses, but not one incidence of heart attack (or cancer for that matter). It's been a while, but personally I think coffee, caffeine in general and stress have a much stronger effect on my blood pressure than the salt I eat. I can see the veins in my arms pop out when I get stressed or binge on coffee. It's a nice little feed back signal. Sodium has gotten a pretty bad reputation, but it's a vital part of body function, it's just when people eat shit foods all the time, or move from a hot country to a cold country, it can cause a problem. I put cinnamon in my coffee when I have time to make it via a moka pot. It's great. Embarrassingly I got the idea from an episode of "Two and a Half Men" I once had the misfortune of watching. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cordeos Posted July 31, 2015 I want to buy a Mortar and Pestle for spice smashing, but had not realized how many different materials were available. I am leaning towards stone since I like the feel and heavier seems better. Is granite best?Second question, I love the site https://food52.com/ it is the best formatted food site/blog I have seen, however I can always use more recepies, what are others favorite food sites? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tabacco Posted July 31, 2015 http://seriouseats.com is pretty good Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dewar Posted July 31, 2015 Depending on what you're grinding, I have generally preferred volcanic rock Mortar and Pestles. The roughness makes it easier to grind down larger or harder things like basil, garlic, sea salt, etc. The disadvantage of that is if you're really powdering something, it can be tough to get it back out of the bowl due to all the nooks and crannies. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cordeos Posted July 31, 2015 Depending on what you're grinding, I have generally preferred volcanic rock Mortar and Pestles. The roughness makes it easier to grind down larger or harder things like basil, garlic, sea salt, etc. The disadvantage of that is if you're really powdering something, it can be tough to get it back out of the bowl due to all the nooks and crannies. Probably mostly for spices, I lean towards jack of all trades kitchen tools since I don't have tons of space. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dewar Posted July 31, 2015 Well, on a jack of all trades note, one of these big ones can be used to make dips and such with avocado, tomato, and other such things that a blender might not quite do the trick on. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/3983806/?catalogId=80&sku=3983806&cm_ven=Google_PLA&cm_cat=Shopping&cm_pla=default&cm_ite=default&gclid=CjwKEAjwueytBRCmpOyZ2L-xrG8SJADwH5c6AG8DrSu2sZW05DUG6Vfy6NNN0GoJVxp-GeiN3K_wLhoCN0Pw_wcB&kwid=productads-plaid^84645142423-sku^3983806-adType^PLA-device^c-adid^45527541703 But yeah, if you're looking for a small kitchen, granite is probably what you want. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mangela Lansbury Posted July 31, 2015 While we're talking about it, what kind of mortar and pestle would y'all recommend for saffron? I always feel like I lose half of it because I can't recover it from the mortar and pestle, and it's such an expensive thing for me to feel like I'm wasting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badfinger Posted July 31, 2015 I love Serious Eats! Recommendation seconded. I also really like Food Gawker. It's an aggregator, but it came out before they were really popular and I think it really does the whole idea right, as creators are the ones submitting. Curated, amazing pictures, well organized. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bucket_of_Lizards Posted July 31, 2015 Seeing the hot dog fried rice reminded me of this chowhound thread entitled What do you do with "Hot Dog Water"? Some suggested uses for the vile broth include hot dog water risotto, hot dog shaved ice, hot dog water oatmeal, and hot dog water martini Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Griddlelol Posted August 13, 2015 I spent a good 26 years loathing pickles/gherkins. I now can't get enough of them. I put them in every salad and sandwich I make now. They also go great with soy sauce which I suppose is obvious since everything goes with that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acl5d Posted August 13, 2015 So after hearing about San Marzano tomatoes for so long, I finally tried a recipe with them (for the curious, this one here). I used one bag of these mini Marzanos from Trader Joes - which were a huge pain to peel, being so small - and one large can of Cento brand peeled San Marzanos. I expected to find a can of peeled tomatoes, maybe with some juice for preservation. I also expected them to be somewhat firm because everywhere I read talked about how canned tomatoes are packaged at the peak of freshness. What I found, however, were some very very mushy peeled tomatoes floating in basically tomato puree. Is that normal, or did I get a bad can? If that's how they're supposed to be I might just skip the cans from now on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dibs Posted August 13, 2015 That's what canned tomatoes are. The recipe says you should cook them down for a long time until it has all thickened, so them starting out like that shouldn't have put you off really. Did you cook it yet? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badfinger Posted August 13, 2015 Fresh tomatoes shouldn't be firm. Fresh tomatoes are soft and juicy. If you have firm (like an apple) they are not ripe, or under ripe. Here is an easy way to peel tomatoes if you'd like to continue to use fresh ones. Just make an X on the bottom of your tomatoes and throw them into a pot of boiling water for no more than a minute. Fish them out with a slotted spoon, plunge them into a bowl of cold water (or an ice bath), lift them directly back out, and peel back the skin with a knife or your fingers. It will slip off like a charm. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acl5d Posted August 13, 2015 That's what I did, it was just a pain because I had the mini ones, so there was a lot more peeling-per-yield-of-tomato-flesh involved. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badfinger Posted August 13, 2015 Gotcha! I've never used or seen mini San Marzano tomatoes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Griddlelol Posted August 13, 2015 I've noticed a lot of people (at least say) they hate tomatoes, but love tomato sauce on things. I'm not talking ketchup, but people who love marinara sauce on pasta and pizza or love bolognese made with tomatoes. I wonder what causes that weird disconnect. Maybe it comes from what you said Badfinger - that people eat unripe tomatoes. Tomatoes are fucking delicious. Best fruit and secret best vegetable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jennegatron Posted August 13, 2015 As a person who doesn't like tomatoes very much, but I very much like tomato sauces, it's in part a texture thing. The chunks of cooked tomato have a very distinct texture. I'm also pretty sensitive to food textures, and they can be hard for me to eat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badfinger Posted August 13, 2015 If I had to guess, it's a texture issue. I love tomatoes, but I've certainly been put off when you get one that's really grainy. I'd rather have an under ripe tomato than one that's all grainy and bad textured. A lot of tomato sauce is also loaded with sugar and many tomato-disguising flavors. ^^^ Oh hey some confirmation! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted August 14, 2015 Tomatoes are fucking delicious. Best fruit and secret best vegetable. Counterpoint: good tomatoes are fucking delicious. Bad tomatoes can ruin my whole meal. I'd just rather not take the risk most of the time, to be honest. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
osmosisch Posted August 14, 2015 Picked a couple kilos of blackberries from our rear hedge today. It's gonna be a pie-bakin' day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites