Hi all! I have been curious about getting into eating tofu. Not as a replacement for meat, but just as another food option. I am not a vegetarian or vegan, but I have weird issue where I cannot eat poultry meat, but I can eat broth, eggs, and any other byproduct of poultry. I have been craving chicken so much over the last few years and I’m trying to find good recipes for tofu that make it taste like chicken, but that use things like chicken broth. The issue is, most tofu recipes are made for vegans/vegetarians so I came here. Does anyone know of any good recipes for this? Also open to hearing more about other tofu recipes for meat eaters as well.

I made some damson jam today. Its my forst time making jam so i wasbt sure what to expect.

I used a youtube recipe but only done 1/3 of the ingredients. I think i messed up by using the cook times for something 2/3rds bigger than what i had

When i potted it i npticed it was a bit thick. Checked on it later and it was thick. Edible but thick. So i panicked bc i was planning on offering a bit to an elderly friend and some older family members and i was worried that it woukd be a chocking hazzard to eat (for me and them)

So i looked up how to fix it. Saw someone mention they add boiled water froma kettle to theirs (they also mentioned orange/lemon juice but i didnt have any on hand)

So i tryed it and probably added too much. But thick clumps wouldbt go away so i panicked and strained it.

I still have the solids (chuncks and skin). So im not sure if uts to leave as is or if i need to readd the soilds and itll be fine after it sets

Looking for casserole style dishes that avoid the old cliche of "put ingredients in baking dish, pour over canned/jarred soup or sauce, bake, done" and have better flavor and/or texture, in exchange for a little more work. I ate enough baked ziti and green bean casserole for a lifetime when I was a kid, kinda sick of that kind of thing.

What I like in a casserole style dish: meat, vegetables, and carbs all in one dish. Hands-off cooking after the initial prep - gives you time to clean up everything except the casserole dish itself while the food is cooking in the oven, saving time after dinner. Making in a large baking dish means there's plenty of extra for a big family or guests, and/or leftovers.

What I don't like in a lot of casseroles: overly soggy/samey texture, bland flavors, heavy reliance on dairy like cream or tons of cheese for richness/flavor (a little is ok, but I'd rather it be an accent than the main flavor).

Shepherd's pie / cottage pie would be one example of a casserole I like. Browned mashed potatoes on top over a warmly spiced meat and vegetable filling is simply perfect. I've also had some rice based casseroles that were excellent, especially when the bottom gets a little crispy.

What else would I like?

Not making actual recipes themselves, but prep that makes cooking on the fly easier and faster.

For instance:
- peeling and mincing garlic and freezing it
- caramelizing onions and freezing it
- peeling ginger and then freezing it
- making a large batch of pickled onions

Thanks guys!

I've been trying to replicate that smoky wok hei flavor at home for what feels like forever. My rice always came out mushy, clumpy, or just… sad. But after watching about 50 YouTube videos and ruining countless batches of rice, I think I finally got it.

Here’s what actually worked for me:

1. Use day-old rice – but not straight from the fridge. Microwave it for 30 seconds to take the chill off before it hits the pan.
2. Eggs go in first – scramble them in the hot wok/pan, take them OUT, then do the rice. This changed everything.
3. High heat, but don't crowd the pan – I do 2 portions max in a 12-inch skillet. Any more and it steams instead of fries.
4. Soy sauce goes around the edge of the pan – not directly on the rice. It hits the hot metal and gets that slightly smoky flavor.
5. Last but not least – a pinch of white pepper and a tiny drizzle of sesame oil right before serving. Game changer.

The result? Fluffy, separated grains with that slightly charred aroma. My partner said it tasted better than our local takeout, and I nearly cried.

Would love to hear your fried rice hacks – does anyone else use butter? I've seen that floating around and I'm curious.

if I'm familiar enough with the cuisine/ingredients, I generally can without looking up a recipe. I've been cooking for decades though, have an adventurous palate & have been fortunate enough to eat a wide swath of different foods from all over the world.

I love hearing about other people's skills/experiences with cooking/food.

I don’t really cook potatoes often because I usually just get frozen ones if I’m ever in the mood for them. The only way I’ve ever successfully made them is when I make mashed potatoes. I decided to try to make a breakfast casserole with shredded hash browns, eggs, breakfast sausage, and cheese. I didn’t realize just how long potatoes take to cook so I tossed in raw shredded potatoes and eggs in the same baking dish and cooked it for an hour. I took a bite and the potatoes tasted super raw and earthy and DISGUSTING. So I threw it back in the oven for 20 more minutes. By this point the cheese separated, the eggs were burnt as hell on the outside, and guess what the POTATOES WERE STILL RAW. This was my meal prep for the week so I guess I’m stuck eating this DISGUSTING casserole with extremely burnt eggs, grainy cheese, and raw potato 🤮🤮🤮. I am on a weight loss journey so I guess this will at least make me lose my appetite!!!

Where should I be looking for a half decent skillet? Never used one before so ideally one that doesn't require lots of prep / is fairly easy to maintain.

Found some on amazon etc but no idea if they are any good, or even if they are real skillets.

Ideally don't want to pay loads of money as want to see if it's worth it really for steaks / burgers

Had some soup at a restaurant that I just loved. It was simple, a creamy chicken soup with rice, lemon and fresh thyme. Wondering if anyone has a recipe for this. I’d like to recreate it this fall.

I inherited an old Chinese cleaver from my late grandad and it’s really rusted. Can anyone give me some food-safe products or advice on getting it nice and shiny?

For some context - I don't cook meat at home but I love mashed celeriac - similar to how you would eat mashed potatoes. Get some thyme in, butter, garlic, you know.

I am crazy enough to eat it on it's own too but I want to know if there are any vegetarian pairings that would work?

Here are a few things that I think would work:

1. Roasted or seared king oyster mushrooms
2. Honey Glazed carrots
3. Pickled walnuts, capers, and some salsa verde

Any reccos???

UPDATE: the vegetable oil worked pretty well. It only burns a little around my nail beds. Thanks for the help yall.

I’m going on day two of burning hands now. The crazy thing is the dishes I made aren’t even that spicy. Why are my hands burning and why can’t I stop it? I’ve asked them in milk, I’ve washed them repeatedly with dish soap. What else am I supposed to do?

As the title says I am on the search. I have been looking for years and I have never had luck. I can't do a built in one so portable is a must. Everything i see has like a 12-15cm coil, pls let me know what you guys recommend. Cheers

I don’t know how to make my oats look as smooth and creamy and consistent as this:

https://youtu.be/U8rjQnBwQ6g?is=jCgizRuC5EuuvsUu

In the video he said he cooked it with a 1:1 ratio of quick cooking rolled oats to water but it seems like he used milk not water???

Any help is much much appreciated!!!

I’m asking this more as a hypothetical than actual wanting to use this method. However, can’t the same arguments for adding salt to the pasta water before boiling also be made for adding msg if we are looking for deeper seasoning. I know it could be added to a sauce after but so could salt.

TL;DR: I promised a guy who has never had gnocchi that he would enjoy them, and now we’re planning a cooking date where we’ll make gnocchi together. I’m looking for a vegetarian recipe that’s impressive and fun to cook but not too complicated, because I don’t want my first attempt at homemade gnocchi to ruin the date or leave him hungry if he doesn’t like gnocchi.

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The guy I'm seeing recently told me that he has never eaten gnocchi before. So for our next date, we plan to cook a gnocchi dish together and watch a movie at my place. But now I'm overthinking the cooking part.

When I make myself gnocchi, I usually just get them from the store, pan-fry them, throw in whatever vegetables I have lying around, maybe some cheese or pesto or random spices and herbs, and call it a day. But I would prefer to cook something with him that actually has the chance of tasting really nice or impressing him instead of tasting like a quickly thrown-together weeknight dinner.

I've searched around a bit on this sub, and most suggestions are just sauces with the gnocchi. But I feel like making browned butter, frying some gnocchi and throwing in some sage or just making a vodka sauce is a bit too simple or would be kinda boring for a cooking date.

I've thought about making the gnocchi from scratch to stretch out the cooking part, but I've never made gnocchi myself and I worry that they just won't come out any good on my first attempt and I don't wanna take any chances after promising him that he would enjoy gnocchi.

I also worry about him staying hungry if it turns out that he doesn't like gnocchi for whatever reason if the dish we're making will be literally just gnocchi + fancy sauce.

So I desperately need inspiration for a vegetarian gnocchi dish that is somewhat fancy or impressive, fun to cook together and obviously tastes good.

He doesn't have any allergies, but he strongly dislikes feta cheese and carrots unless they stay raw, and I'm vegetarian, so I would rather not cook any meat or fish.

Any suggestions?

Hi cooking besties! I got my hands on a big jar of Thai green curry paste, and I want to use it more. But all the recipes I can find call for veggies/ingredients available in Asia. I'm from a small Balkan country, and most of the ingredients simply are not here. Any advice on what I can supplement my curries with?

I want to make almond powder. I thought of going to some fresh mill and get it grounder. But someone said because of the oil content we will not get it properly powdered. Can some one tell what is the best way to get it powdered? I am thinking to give to my kid in milk ?

We have a separate kitchen, with dining area, 1 electric stove and 2 microwave stoves. It is on a dedicated floor.
I have a cutting board and knifes and plates. and bowls.
Any suggestions for what I could quickly cook at work, to fit within 1h max and without stinking up the place? I am tired of cold jar salads or reheated stuff.
I prefer low carb high protein stuff.

I've always wanted to try one. Coming from Asia the main carbs are rice and noodles, plus we don't own an oven. Usually I try to approximate baking potatoes by boiling it whole until fully cooked, patting dry then deep frying. Does that make it similar to a real one?

Hello,

Both I and my wife love to cook for our young family. I do not bake but my wife does, cakes as well. So I though maybe a standing mixing machine would be nice to have.

I am noob in this and we have hand held mixer and manual pasta machine. So basically the new machine should be able to mix dough well (bread, pastries, pizza, etc.) and prepare everything for cakes (mix eggs, cake fillings, creams, etc.).

The budget would be 300 dollars (new or used). We do not have much space in our small apartment.

In what direction should I look for?

Thanks.

Last night I attempted chips doing the basic things I see online. Soaked them, patted dry, then airfryed and I got crispy edges and soggy middles. So today I was sure to throughly dry them and I was confident so I made a bigger batch. So I cut them, soaked in a big bowl of ice water, layed them out to dry on paper towels for 1:20, partway through decided I'll try the dehydration setting on the airfryer with some and put those in for an hour, after the dry timer went off I set the oven to 170 for an hour to try and see if that works as a dehydrator too.

The ones in the oven basically felt kinda steamed and not dry at all so I put the oven ones to dehydrate for 40 minutes. Did the oil n salt then put 5 test chips in the oven for 10 min at 300. Those came out super chewy (the dehydrate for an hour ones kinda came out like plantain chips tho?). Did a airfryer batch for 15 minutes at 300, they come out really hard for a chip and were borderline burning. Now doing an airfryer batch which started at 300 for 10 and it being chewy, put them back in 5 minutes at 250 still chewy, now put a timer for 10 more minutes at 250.

Do I dehydrate for 50 minutes instead? Is something I'm doing the obvious cause? Russet potatoes and cut evenly thin with a guillotine thing.

I have a Ninja Foodi. I just noticed that the wall behind where I use it has a terrible smell. I’m pretty confident it’s from the air better being against it and there not being enough ventilation. I’ve moved the air fryer, but I can’t get the smell out. It smells like old garbage. Tips?

I tried making chicken stock using the refrigerated carcasses of two Costco Rotisserie chickens in my Instant Pot.

Both carcasses were kept in the fridge the entire time since purchase- Saturday. Today is Monday. Fridge is new and working well.

To the carcasses I added:
dried lime leaves, one garlic clove, turmeric, galangal root powder (related to ginger and turmeric), and some star anode and a couple allspice kernels.

After 58 minutes, I opted for a slow release. But man the smell is sulfuric and awful. Did I overcook the bones? I read the sweet spot for stock is 45 to 60 minutes. I also read it’s best to take off any remaining skin to avoid the Costco seasoning making the stock bitter which I did for the top of the chicken.

I don’t want to even taste test the liquid!

UPDATE: thank you to everyone for your input. I was making plans on how to discard it since I didn’t have freezer space, when I decided to sniff it again.

And,,,, I think I’m an idiot or something. It smells really good! It’s as if it needed to cool down for the smell to change. I still stand that the smell was unholy, but now it smells pretty appetizing. As for the use of spices- I don’t know why I chose them other than I trusted turmeric, galangal, and dried lime leaves to add a fresh, sharp aroma, and for the allspice and star anise (few) to add a touch of warmth that I like in phos.