Food questions? Ask me anything

bodyrollin
bodyrollin Posts: 215 Member
Im a cook by hobby (formerly chef by trade, but I got burnt out, and have a more rewarding career now) and I know a lot about food so what I'm doing here is offering my free advice...want to know a good recipe? Want to know how to make some of your favorite things have less calories? Just ask...I'll check this thread daily, and offer what assistance I can...honestly, I'm not your average "I know how to copy stuff from Rachel ray so that means I'm a cook" type chef...I know my **** through and through and love cooking, and do a pretty damn good job of it. Sooo fire away...I don't know what kind of response this will get and I am a very busy person, but I'll try to get to as many questions as I can in each day.

Edit: please be as detailed as possible in your questions...just in the interest of saving you time, and getting a faster response as accurate as possible :-)
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Replies

  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
    What's an easy way to roast red peppers? I end up with mushy and burnt. I made a nice Muhammara dip the other day and cheated by sauteing the peppers on a high heat constantly stirring till they were slighty burnt - worked ok and was good, but not the authentic way.
  • janlee_001
    janlee_001 Posts: 309 Member
    Thank you for offering your services : )

    I keep trying to make the cauliflower pizza crust recipe and have tried variations from less cheese to less eggs to using parchment paper.

    Is this supposed to ever be a crispy crust and how can I accomplish that.

    Thank you so much.
  • bodyrollin
    bodyrollin Posts: 215 Member
    What's an easy way to roast red peppers? I end up with mushy and burnt. I made a nice Muhammara dip the other day and cheated by sauteing the peppers on a high heat constantly stirring till they were slighty burnt - worked ok and was good, but not the authentic way.
    coal grill, gas grill, grill pan, or oven?
  • bodyrollin
    bodyrollin Posts: 215 Member
    Thank you for offering your services : )

    I keep trying to make the cauliflower pizza crust recipe and have tried variations from less cheese to less eggs to using parchment paper.

    Is this supposed to ever be a crispy crust and how can I accomplish that.

    Thank you so much.
    Do you need something gluten free or are you just looking for a low cal crust? Because honestly the cauliflower crust sucks lol...I tried it the recommended way, and ten adapted what I know to make it better, and it was still only so/so...
  • INFJ
    INFJ Posts: 86 Member
    I'm moving into a condo. Should I invest in a propane gas oven?
  • trixiemou
    trixiemou Posts: 554 Member
    Hi, I have a bread recipe that needs buttermilk and can not get it here. is there an alternative I can use?

    Thank you, this is a great idea.
  • bodyrollin
    bodyrollin Posts: 215 Member
    I'm moving into a condo. Should I invest in a propane gas oven?
    I love cooking with gas, don't get me wrong...but honestly just take a weekend and learn the ins and outs of your electric range (in oven thermometer to check accuracy etc...) and you shouldn't have any problems...plus it will save you a bunch of money both in start up cost, and in energy cost. (if I'm misinterpreting what you're asking i apologise) that said I know nothing of building code or how difficult it is to set up a propane range in a condo, so I may not be the best person to ask here lol.
  • bodyrollin
    bodyrollin Posts: 215 Member
    Hi, I have a bread recipe that needs buttermilk and can not get it here. is there an alternative I can use?

    Thank you, this is a great idea.
    if you can get heavy cream (preferably not ultra pasteurized) you can make real butter milk...just pour the cream into a jar, with a lid, like a mason jar and shake it...eventually it will make whipped cream, keep shaking it and a yellow solid will form (yup that's butter) the liquid that seperates from that yellow solid is buttermilk...if you don't have that just put a tablespoon of white vinegar into a 1c measuring cup, and top off with milk, let it stand for about 5 mins or so, and you'll have an acceptable buttermilk replacement.
  • jerbear1962
    jerbear1962 Posts: 1,157 Member
    Ex Chef here too...the cauliflower pizza crust can be made crispy. You have to make sure and get as much moisture as possible before you add the cheese so when you bake it, it can become crispy. I pre bake mine at 415 degrees till the edges start to brown. Then add my toppings and then I broil it at 500 till cheese is bubbly.
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
    What's an easy way to roast red peppers? I end up with mushy and burnt. I made a nice Muhammara dip the other day and cheated by sauteing the peppers on a high heat constantly stirring till they were slighty burnt - worked ok and was good, but not the authentic way.
    coal grill, gas grill, grill pan, or oven?

    Electric oven
  • trixiemou
    trixiemou Posts: 554 Member
    Wow, that easy, thanks.
  • bodyrollin
    bodyrollin Posts: 215 Member
    What's an easy way to roast red peppers? I end up with mushy and burnt. I made a nice Muhammara dip the other day and cheated by sauteing the peppers on a high heat constantly stirring till they were slighty burnt - worked ok and was good, but not the authentic way.
    coal grill, gas grill, grill pan, or oven?

    Electric oven
    set to a high broil and let your oven heat about half way (if you have an oven thermometer about 375ish) put top rack in top position, cut, quarter, and deseed the peppers. toss your peppers in olive oil, salt, an pepper (just enough to coat) lay them skin side up on a cookie sheet and stick that in your oven (the temp will continue to climb up to 500 if left on long enough, but you'll be done with it before it gets there) broil for about 5 minutes or until you just see the peppers start to blister and char on the skin. Pull out of oven and transfer the peppers into a Tupperware type container with an airtight lid immediately. Allow them to cool to room temperature. this will steam the skins loose so they're easy to peel, but should still leave a little texture to the pepper itself , so what you end up with is a nicely roasted flavor, great texture, and no charred bits, with all the guesswork taken out of it :-)
  • boey2
    boey2 Posts: 11 Member
    Hi Bodyrollin :)
    Can you give me any low fat dinner ideas? I work long hours so to be honest i don't want to spend my evening in the kitchen.
    I really need help, as I had originally lost 3 stone (but i wan't really eating lol) I have now put on over a stone. Evenings are my worst time.
    Morning is bran flakes, lunch, fruit and yogurt and evening is everything HELP lol. No seriously i love to snack in the evening, so im thinking i should eat small dinners so i can .
    I love stir frys, prawns, veg, chicken,soup,etc

    My snacks are usually crackerbread and houmous, special K bars
    I have also give up cigarettes this week so i know in the evenings im overeating, which is not good :(

    Look forward to hearing from you :)
  • Kamnikar64
    Kamnikar64 Posts: 345 Member
    My daughter's favorite vegetable is creamed spinich which I buy in the freezer section. I would love a quick recipe to make that starting with fresh baby spinich (I always buy the big container at Costco). I use it as the salad base for my quinoi salad. Thanks so much for answering my question and everyone elses. I love to cook, but that creamed spinich has me stumped.
  • bodyrollin
    bodyrollin Posts: 215 Member
    Hi Bodyrollin :)
    Can you give me any low fat dinner ideas? I work long hours so to be honest i don't want to spend my evening in the kitchen.
    I really need help, as I had originally lost 3 stone (but i wan't really eating lol) I have now put on over a stone. Evenings are my worst time.
    Morning is bran flakes, lunch, fruit and yogurt and evening is everything HELP lol. No seriously i love to snack in the evening, so im thinking i should eat small dinners so i can .
    I love stir frys, prawns, veg, chicken,soup,etc

    My snacks are usually crackerbread and houmous, special K bars
    I have also give up cigarettes this week so i know in the evenings im overeating, which is not good :(

    Look forward to hearing from you :)
    lots to address on this one...my best advice to you is to take a day or night that you have off, and spend a few hours in the kitchen making your favorite sauces, and soups (like I usually make a good butternut squash soup, or chili, and maybe some marinara...it makes for really quick food the rest of the week...make a big batch an freeze it in pint jars so you can take it down a couple servings at a time so it doesn't go bad. An example of my day of food will be a 2 egg omelette with a slice of skin milk cheese and a half cup of chili, with some fruit or Greek yogurt on the side for breakfast, a cup of butternut squash soup and a grilled cheese on 7 grain bread with skim cheese again for lunch, a muscle milk protein shake after my evening workout, and bake eggplant with marinara and feta cheese for dinner, all for around 1200-1400 calories BEFORE subtracting for the workouts...so if you're working out it makes room for plenty of snacks on top of that...my favorites are the 100 calorie popcorn, and Quaker tomato basil rice cakes.
  • tuffytuffy1
    tuffytuffy1 Posts: 920 Member
    Thank you for offering us your expertise! Something I have always wanted to make is tomato soup (healthy, not too creamy). I make loads of other soups, but tomato soup stumps me. What type of tomatoes should I use, and how would you recommend I go about making it?
  • bodyrollin
    bodyrollin Posts: 215 Member
    My daughter's favorite vegetable is creamed spinich which I buy in the freezer section. I would love a quick recipe to make that starting with fresh baby spinich (I always buy the big container at Costco). I use it as the salad base for my quinoi salad. Thanks so much for answering my question and everyone elses. I love to cook, but that creamed spinich has me stumped.
    low cal? Or regular delicious type?
  • bodyrollin
    bodyrollin Posts: 215 Member
    Thank you for offering us your expertise! Something I have always wanted to make is tomato soup (healthy, not too creamy). I make loads of other soups, but tomato soup stumps me. What type of tomatoes should I use, and how would you recommend I go about making it?
    Do you want perfectly smooth like canned tomato soup? Or are you ok with some texture?
  • dbkrantz
    dbkrantz Posts: 138
    Hi !

    Thanks for your help!

    My problem concerns chicken breasts. I recently moved from having a gas stove (heaven!) to a ceramic stove and since then it's been a nightmare.

    No matter if I grill, poach or cook the chicken breasts in sauce they come out completely hard and impossible to eat. What can I do?

    Thanks a lot!!
  • BabsPerl
    BabsPerl Posts: 18 Member
    This is an awesome idea! I am a budding cook. I may be 37 but I started to learn how to cook a year ago. I only enjoy cooking on the weekend. I cook for the whole week (I'm by myself). So because i cook for the week, can you suggest some casserole type dishes that are low in fiber? The low fiber requirement is for medical purposes.