KitchenSavvy

Removing Mushroom Gills

Is it necessary to remove the gills in mushrooms while cooking?

-- Sneha

There are a few reasons why you might want to remove the gills from mushrooms, but none of them is absolutely necessary.

If you are making a light colored sauce, such as a mushroom cream sauce, you might want to remove the gills from your mushrooms, particularly older mushrooms that have their gills exposed.  The reason for this, is that the gills can discolor your sauce and make it dirty brown rather than light and creamy looking.

If the mushrooms are older and the gills are already exposed, there is a chance that dirt or even insects may be caught up in the gills.  This is especially a problem if they are wild, foraged mushrooms.  To avoid having grit from the mushrooms get into your food, you might want to remove the gills.  Also, the gills of older mushrooms may have more intense flavor.   For a lightly flavored, more delicate sauce removing the gills may be desirable.

When making stuffed mushrooms, you might want to remove the gills just to make it easier to stuff them, and to make more room for the stuffing to fit.

To remove the gills, first break away the stem by bending it back and forth.  It should break off right where it joins the cap.  Then use an teaspoon, the kind you stir your tea with, not the measuring spoon, and scrape the underside of the mushroom with the edge of the spoon.  The gills should come away into the spoon.  Go back and clean up any missed spots or pieces that got left behind.  Finally, wipe the inside of the mushroom cap out with a dry cloth or paper towel.

---

If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Can I Use Olive Oil to Marinate Beef

I have a family favorite flank steak marinade that uses vegetable oil.  Can I substitute olive oil (health reasons) and get the same taste and marinade?  I am worried that when the meat is marinaded over night in the refrigerator that the olive oil will harden.  Thank you for your assistance.

--Sandy

The reason for using fat of any sort in a marinade is because many flavor compounds dissolve in fat, but very little or not at all in water.  The oil carries those flavor compounds onto the surface of the meat.

Very little oil is actually needed to accomplish this.  Only enough to lightly coat the meat.  For a typical marinade, a few tablespoons of oil per cup of other liquids should be enough.  The exception, of course, being pastes that are made of herbs puréed in an oil base, like pesto.

Contrary to popular belief, the oil does not help to tenderize the meat.  Marinades only penetrate the outer 1/8" (3 mm) or so and therefore can not affect the interior.  Since the meat is made up largely of muscle fibers which are saturated with water, it is almost impossible for the oil in particular to penetrate even that far.

So, to answer your question, olive oil will be perfectly fine, as it doesn't have to stay liquid to do its job.  In fact, I use olive oil for marinades all of the time.

In order to be sure that the oil soluble flavor compounds are carried to the meat, finely chop any fresh herbs that you use, and mince or press garlic.  Combine the herbs, spices and other flavoring ingredients like garlic with the oil before adding the other liquids.  Also, I am a fan of putting the meat and marinade into a resealable plastic bag, since this allows you to redistribute the marinade by "massaging" the meat through the bag.  This helps distribute the oil, and therefore the flavors, over the surface of the meat.

---

If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Adjusting Cheesecake Recipes for Different Pan Sizes

I have a recipe for a lemon marble cheesecake that I am making for Easter Dinner. I have several question for you. I would like to make this in a larger size pan but have been unable to find the volumes for any cheesecake pans. Do you have any idea of the volumes on say a 9 1/2 inch, 10 inch and 12 inch springform pans? Also after adjusting the recipe quantities are there any other considerations I might need to take besides increasing the baking time?

--Karen

First, thanks for getting the question to me ahead of time.  So often I get questions right when the problem arises.  By then, its too late to answer in time to be of help.

According to Corriher, in her new book BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking, springform pans may not actually measure the same diameter as they are labeled. The Food Lover's Companion does give the volume for a 9 ½" x 2 ½" springform as 10 cups, and a 10 ½" x 2 ½" springform as 12 cups.

If you have the pans on hand, you could just fill them with water using a measuring cup and see how much it takes, but since springform pans leak, you need to line them with something to keep the water in.  To do that, just open kitchen garbage bag and put it into the pan, the same as if you were lining a pail.  Let the excess drape around the outside, and then fill the bag inside the pan with water until it comes close to the top of the pan.  The water will push the excess plastic out to the edges of the pan, so your measurement will be pretty close.  It is probably best to do this in the sink to avoid a mess.

Alternatively, you can calculate the volume of the pans using the formula:

V= H x Π x r²

where:

• H is the height of the pan, measured inside from the bottom to the height you would fill it;
• Π is the constant 3.1416
• and r² is ½ the measured diameter of the pan squared.

Thus, for a pan which measures 9 ½" diameter and 2" high inside, the volume will be:

V = 2 x 3.1416 x4.75 x 4.75

V = 141.76 cu in

Since 1 US cup = 14.4375 cubic inches, the pan would hold about 9.8 cups or say 10 cups even.

If you are using a larger pan, but plan to fill it to the same depth, then you can just square to ratio of the diameters to get the scaling factor.  A 12" pan will hold 1.6 times as much as a 9 ½" one [(12/9.5)²].  I actually recommend this, as it will cause less problems in terms of cooking time.  If the pan is filled to the same depth, then the cooking time will remain close to the same (see Scaling Recipes).

Armed with the measured or calculated volumes of various pans, you can now scale your recipe.  I recommend against scaling a recipe by more than a factor of two.

Start with the number of eggs in the recipe.  In the above example of going from a 9 ½" pan to a 12" pan, if the original recipe calls for 4 eggs, then the scaled recipe will need 6.4 eggs.  Now you have a problem, the 0.4 of an egg.  The easiest thing to do will be to use 6 eggs, and scale everything by 1.5 instead of 1.6 . Scale the rest of the ingredients accordingly and proceed.

Just one more note, though.  If you are scaling by volume, and the recipe calls for a crumb crust on the bottom of the pan, scale the ingredients for the crust by the ratio of the diameters, as above.  If you don't, the crust will be too thick.

Make and bake the cheesecake following the hints in the posting How Can You Prevent a Cheesecake from Cracking?

---

If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Cuisinart Convection Breadmaker - Not Ready for Prime Time

For Christmas this year, I asked for and was given a Cuisinart Convection Bread Maker, model CBK-200C.  If your idea of a bread maker is, "I'll set this up and have fresh bread when I get home from work," or "when I get up in the morning," then the CBK-200C is probably not the one for you.

I have only had it for three months, and have only used it on weekends, but I have encountered a number of problems.

More an aggravation than a problem, I don't see any indication whether the recipes  are for United States or Canada.  Canadian flour tends to be higher in protein than its southern counterpart so we need to use less of it to get the same rise.  Since the product label on the machine and the manual both say Cuisinart Canada, I would have expected the recipes to be suited to Canadian ingredients.  Maybe not!

The first time I used my new bread maker, I tried the recipe for a 2 pound loaf of  "Basic White Bread-Machine Bread."  It is a good thing I was there to watch over things.  Not just once but twice I had to reach in by hand and tear out chunks of wet dough during the baking cycle as the bread rose until it touched the underside of the window in the lid.  OK, I'm used to correcting recipes for bread makers, but in the end the largest loaf I can make uses a mere 2 2/3 cups of flour.  That is even less flour than is given in the 1 1/2 pound recipe in the book that came with it.

Another aggravation, and admittedly this is partially a matter of taste, is that I find the cooking time to get a perfect crust on the basic white bread recipe is half way between the light and medium crust settings.  At the light setting, I find the crust dull and flavorless, but at the medium setting it is over cooked and so dry that it tears the roof of my mouth.

I have noticed that if I leave the machine alone to do its stuff for the entire cycle, some of the damp flour collects in two corners of the pan and doesn't get mixed in during kneading.  If I'm lucky, it may stick to the dough during the first rising, but it may also just stay there creating unpleasant lumps in the corners of the bread.  To be sure of a proper loaf, with no caked flour corners, I need to stop the machine and reach in with a scraper to get the flour out of the corners.

The second time I used the machine, the pan jumped its guides and twisted around in the machine.  To hold the pan in place, there are two metal springs attached to the inside of the oven.  On the narrow sides of the pan there are corresponding metal tabs that are supposed to catch either side of each spring to hold the pan in place.  These tabs are quite small and don't appear to be adequate to hold the pan as it gets jostled about by the kneading of the dough.

Equally as poor is the design of the drive.  Both the plate in the base of the oven which engages the crossbar on the shaft holding the paddle and the crossbar itself are made from stamped metal.  This means that the sides are not perfectly perpendicular.  If the pan lifts up even a slight amount, as it seems to do during kneading, then the plate and crossbar slip.  The plate is then free to turn a half turn before slamming into the crossbar again, making a loud banging noise.  Again, it is a good thing I was around to hear the ruckus.  It wouldn't take long with it running like that for something to break.

Twice now I have had the paddle lift completely off of the drive shaft.  The first time, I didn't know, but found out when I went to take the paddle out before final rise.  The second time, today, I happened to be in the kitchen and heard the motor free wheeling during the initial knead.

Something like half of the times I have used this machine, something has gone wrong.  The pan has shifted, the drive mechanism has slipped due to the pan moving up, or the paddle has come off during kneading.  This is definitely not a machine I feel I can trust to do the job right when I'm not around to watch over it.

My rating for the Cuisinart Convection Bread Maker -- several slices short of a full loaf.

---

If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Beating Egg Whites - How Cream of Tartar Helps

While you mentioned that cream of tartar, in a properly sealed container, can be kept indefinitely, I used mine last evening and the beaten egg whites did not turn out to be stiff as described in the recipe.  I suspect the culprit is my cream of tartar being too old, even though it was kept in a tightly sealed container.

-- Lucy

Cream of tartar does not affect the stiffness to which egg whites can be beat nearly as much as it helps stop beaten egg whites from collapsing. 

When you beat egg whites, proteins in the whites unfold from their natural shape and become tangled with each other.  At the same time, you are beating air into the whites, forming small bubbles.  The protein molecules become attached to each other through chemical and electrical bonds that reinforce the skin of the air bubbles.  Over time, these bonds can pull the proteins closer together, forcing out the water trapped in the surface of the bubbles.  Eventually, the proteins pull themselves together so strongly that compact, grainy protein lumps form and the liquid pools in the bottom of the bowl.

This is where the cream of tartar comes in.  It helps prevent the formation of chemical bonds between protein molecules.

To understand this, first a little chemistry.  Protein molecules have, along their length, sulfur atoms that in turn may have a hydrogen atom attached.  If the sulfur atoms release their attached hydrogen into the surrounding liquid, then they can attach to something else.  Sometimes, that something else is a sulfur atom on another protein molecule.   If too many sulfur - sulfur bonds occur, the proteins pull together too strongly and the foam collapses, as above.

Because it is acidic, the cream of tartar increases the number of free hydrogen atoms in the liquid.  These extra hydrogen atoms either stop the sulfur atoms from releasing their attached hydrogen, or else provide another hydrogen atom to quickly take its place.  Because of this, the rate at which sulfur - sulfur bonds can be created is slowed down enough to help keep the egg whites stiff long enough to be used.

Any acid can be used for this purpose, although cream of tartar and lemon juice are the most common.  The amounts needed are 1/8 teaspoon per egg white for cream of tartar and 1/4 teaspoon per egg white for lemon juice.

If you are having trouble beating egg whites to stiff peaks, there may be one of three causes.  If you got any of the yolk from the eggs into the whites while separating them, this can lessen the ability of the eggs to form stiff peaks, as can contamination from oil, fat or detergent on the utensils.  You should never use a plastic bowl to beat egg whites, since fat molecules are attracted to some plastics and may leave a film on the inside of the bowl.

---

If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com

If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com

Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Basa Fish

Do Basa fish fillets have another name and where does this fish come from?

-- Ruth

Basa is a type of catfish.   Other names include Basa Fish, Bocourti, Bocourti Catfish, Bocourti Fish, Sutchi Catfish, and Pangasius. The scientific name for Basa is Pangasius bocourti.  A close relative, Pangasius hypophthalmus, or Tra, is also sometimes sold as Basa

Basa are native to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietname, with the primary commercial source appearing to be the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam.  According to Time.com, Basa accounted for approximately 20% of the catfish sold in the United States in 2002.

---

If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

KitchenSavvy is Tweeting!

Now you can follow KitchenSavvy on Twitter, a social networking and micro-blogging service.  Posts on Twitter are called "Tweets" and are limited to just 140 characters.

How will I use it?

• To post random food thoughts
• To answer questions received from readers and that don't require a lot of detail
• To let readers know when a new posting is up on KitchenSavvy
• To tweet about restaurants right then and there.

Restaurant tweets may include ratings in this format:

A9 S9 F9 P5 MV9 App$5-15 E$20-30 R5

Numbers range from 1 (terrible) to 9 (fantastic).  The letter sequence is:

• A - Atmosphere/Ambience
• S - Service
• F - Food
• P - Presentation
• MV - Menu Variety
• App - Appetizer price range in the local currency of the restaurant
• E - Entrée price range, also in local currency
• R - Will I return?  1 - 5 where 1 is "No never", 3 is "Maybe" and 5 is "I can't wait to come back"

Sorry for the brevity of the ratings, but the 140 character limit means there isn't a lot of room for details.

So, how can you keep up?

1. Look on KitchenSavvy.  In the left sidebar you can read the last five tweets.
2. Go to the KitchenSavvy Twitter Page to see all the traffic.
3. If you are registered on Twitter, follow me (Twitter users know what that means!).

Let me know what you think!

Make $100 an Hour in Your Spare Time -- Dicing Onions

Once again, the mind boggles!  On a recent trip to the grocery store, I noticed plastic clam shells full of diced onions -- cost $4.99 for 234 grams (just over 1/2 pound).  I could get yellow onions, red onions, or a mix of diced onions and celery, each for that price.  I checked the cost of whole onions.  A three pound (1.36 kg) bag of yellow onions sells for $2.49 and a one pound (454 grams) bag of red onions sells for $1.69.

For the amount of effort that it takes to dice an onion, this seems like quite an extravagance, especially now, when people are watching their budgets ever more carefully.  Back home, I timed myself and it took 1 minute 40 seconds to dice a 230 gram medium yellow onion.  The result was 182 grams of diced onion ready for cooking.  The yield was about 182/230 or about 80% of the original weight.

Worked out on a per gram basis, then, the cost of onions is:

Packaging	Wt (gr)	Yield (gr)	Price	¢/gr.	Saving ¢/gr
Pre-Diced	283	283	$4.99	1.76	n/a
Whole Yellow	1365	1080	$2.49	0.23	1.53
Whole Red	454	359	$1.60	0.47	1.29

The last column shows the saving in cents per gram of dicing your own onions.  It may not look like much, but when you consider the cost of that 182 gram yellow onion times 1.53 cents per gram, it comes out to $2.78.  Pre-diced onions work out to nearly eight times the cost for the yellow onions or nearly 4 times the cost for the red onions.

So, where did I get the $100 from?

If it takes me 1 minute and 40 seconds to dice one yellow onion, yielding 182 grams, working non-stop I should be able to dice 36 onions per hour (3600 seconds per hour / 100 seconds per onion).

36 onions per hour X 182 grams per onion X 1.53 cents per gram = $100.25 per hour

Let me put this another way.  If every second day for a year you were to cook a dish that used one medium onion, you could waste $501 buying pre-diced onions.  It's almost enough to make you cry!

---

If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Caramelized Onion, Chevre and Fig Tart

I love cooking with caramelized onions. They have a rich, complex flavor which is suited to many applications. They are the basis of dishes like classic French Onion Soup and and Pissaladiere. Caramelized onion can also be used stews and braises, in making bread and as a complement to meat. 

On a recent trip to France, we discovered a natural affinity for chevre cheese and figs so, bringing these flavors together, I invented the following recipe.

Caramelized Onion, Chevre and Fig Tart

Amount		Measure	Ingredient
2		Med	Onions
1	1/2	Tsp	Olive Oil
	1/2	Tsp	Salt
3	1/2	Oz	Chevre Cheese, unripened
3		Tbsp	Fig Jam
18			Mini Tart Shells

1. Peel onions, halve and slice into 1/8th inch slices. Place in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and let sit for 5 - 10 minutes.
2. Heat a sauté pan to medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the sliced onions. Sprinkle on the salt.  Toss. Cover and allow to steam down, 10 - 15 minutes, being careful to reduce the heat if they start to brown.
3. Remove the cover, and continue to cook the onions down, stirring frequently and progressively reducing the heat as they brown, until they are evenly softened and browned to a mahogany color. The volume will be greatly reduced. Allow to cool.
4. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C)
5. Place tart shells onto a cookie sheet. Give the caramelized onions a rough chop just to remove any long pieces and then divide evenly among the tart shells. Divide the chevre evenly among the tarts, spreading it, if possible, to cover the onions. Top each tart with 1/2 teaspoon of the fig jam.
6. Bake tarts for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges of the tart shells are lightly browned and the jam is bubbling. Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.

In place of the second step above, you can toss the onions with the salt and then microwave on high for about 15 minutes until they soften and reduce to about three quarters their original volume.  Place the onions and any liquid into the oiled pan and proceed as in step 3.

As they caramelize, the onions will reduce down a much smaller volume, as shown in the following pictures.

Raw Onions		The Same Onions After Being Caramelized

In these pictures, eight large yellow onions, about 5.3 pounds (2.8 Kg) were caramelized, resulting in about 2 1/4 cups (300 ml) of finished product.  The two onions in the recipe should yield about 9 tablespoons, or about 1/2 tablespoon per tart.

Don't spend extra to buy sweet onions for caramelization.  By the time you are done, the sharp sulfur compounds will have cooked off completely, so use the least expensive onions you can find.

---

If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Substitute for Gruyère Cheese

What can I substitute for Gruyère cheese?

-- D

To some extent, that depends on what you are using it for.  In fondue, Ememental would be the standard substitution.  If you can't find Emmental, look for generic Swiss Cheese.   The Food Substitutions Bible suggests you can also use Comté or Beaufort as a general substitute for Gruyère.

For melting on top of one of my all time favorite potato dishes, Potato Flan with Caramelized Onions, I really like Jarlsberg, since its slightly stronger, nutty flavor stands up well to the complexity of the dish.  The original recipe called for Gruyère.  For grilling or melting onto potatoes or vegetables, you could also use Raclette from France or Switzerland.

And for eating out of hand, try any of the above as well as Maasdam or Edam.

If you live somewhere that has a good, knowledgeable cheese store, like the Bulk Cheese Warehouse in Saskatoon, go in and tell them what you are making.  They may have many more interesting suggestions.  If you are looking for a cheese to go with a particular food, say maybe to serve alongside a Peach Cobbler, tell them.  They may be able to suggest an interesting pairing.  If you aren't sure of a recommendation, most cheesemongers will be happy to give you a taste of any cheese they suggest.

---

If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward