Ask Me Anything

I usually use 1/2 chicken/dashi/kombu stock and 1/2 water. IMO it gets too salty if you use just stock, but that's a matter of taste, I guess.

What's your favourite vinaigrette recipe?

Well I don't use canned stock I use homemade which has no salt.

I like balsamic vinaigrette the most.

I have a lot of different spices in my cupboards and Im pretty good at using them, all except cumin. When would you normally use cumin?

Cumin is good for Mexican foods it's also good mixed with cayenne salt and pepper on fish. Cumin is also good in homemade sausage. It's very aromatic as well so you don't need that much.

Whats the dish that you have spent the longest making?

I don't really know a lot dishes can take some time.

In cooking/baking, what is the difference between butter and margarine? And when would you use one or the other?

Butter is made from Milk. Margarine is made from vegetable oil. I would use butter and never margarine in cooking and baking. I'd only use margarine in a desperate situation.

What inspired you to begin training to be a professional chef?

I like cooking.

When i make tea, why does the tea bag always inflate and float? even if i squeeze out the air bubble with a spoon, it reinflates.

Classy, which side is more correct in the great steak debate--sear first then oven, or oven first then sear last?

The only reason you should put a steak in the oven is if you wanna cook it past medium, and if you do that then go fuck yourself.

Best way to cook a steak is on the grill...the whole time.

best way to cook curry?

With tumeric and curry powder.

Back to answer more questions.

Saw this was never and answered, and the answer you seek is density. It's kinda like this, the bag that holds the tea soaks up water making the bag more buoyant, and then you have the leaves in the bag, which have a lower density than water. Which is why if you look at a river the leaves aren't all sunken to the bottom instead they are floating down the river.

i already knew the answer, i was just being a dick(a shot at Longevity's arrogant title choice).

the reason the leaves you spoke of don't sink to the bottom is surfface tension. leaves contain a great deal of watter, and therefore have near neutral boyancey.

the heat makes the water molecules seperate into hydrogen and oxygen gas, and as the bag absorbs water the the surface tension makes the bag into a bubble, trapping the gases.

re-bumping this cause I needs advice.

What is brandy butter and how can I use it in recipes?

It's a butter and sugar paste with brandy in it. It's used as mostly a topping for traditional Christmas dishes like Mince pies and Christmas pudding. I can't find any recipes involving Hard sauces, but since both butter and sugar is used in cakes, could be something to try there? That is, if the heat doesn't kill the alcohol.