I have a rather impressive collection of thrifted equipment I use for my morning latte. Each piece has required a little bit of investigative repair in order to get it working just right, but I've recently been stumped by my newest addition, a Bodum conical burr grinder.

My current espresso machine is a single boiler Breville with a standard portafilter (no diaphragm or valves in the portafilter, so the resistance needs to come from finely enough ground coffee.)

My question is this; is it possible to calibrate the Bodum grinder at all? It's finest setting is apparently not quite fine enough to provide the right resistance for the espresso maker, so I've needed to regrind my coffee with a blade grinder to get the right consistency.

Cheers in advance!

I know this is a weird thing to ask, but google is failing me and I don't have enough agricultural knowledge to know where to start looking. I'm hoping this isn't another food thing I'm the only one who thinks about.

I love carrots but I'm increasingly irritated by the tiny long carrots that I can find in the markets. I just bought a bag of carrots that had a number of them thinner than my pinky finger. In the meanwhile whenever I look at cooking shows on Youtube that are made in other countries they have thicker, longer, or otherwise more substantial carrots. The ones in Japan seem huge; some of them look like they have a 2" diameter!

Is it just that they are using a different variety? If so, why would they be using those tiny ones here?

Meat and other related animal products are well-known for being efficient at providing the body with all nine essential amino acids. But as someone who is relatively new to eating a completely plant-based diet, I am struggling to find a variety of foods to incorporate into my meals to get an adequate amount of complete protein. I'd love to hear anything and everything from more experienced vegans about getting protein!

Kvass is a traditional Slavic beverage that is made by fermenting rye/wheat bread/flour/malt. The result is low alcohol (usually <0.5%), carbonated, and balances sweet, bready flavor with a refreshing tartness reminiscent of kombucha. It's a great substitute for beer, in my opinion, for people who can't tolerate significant amounts of alcohol.

This is not a common beverage outside of Eastern Europe. I've had freshly made kvass a couple times at Russian restaurants in the US, but it seems like the only other way to buy it is to find an store (brick-and-mortar or online) that imports canned or bottled kvass from the Slavic homeland - it doesn't seem like there are any US-based kvass brewers. On a lark, I bought some Russian kvass online - a brand called 'Букет Чувашии' (Buket Chuvashii - 'Bouquet of Chuvashia') - and it was actually pretty good compared to what I've had in the past. I'm interested in trying other brands as well, but looking through reviews, it seems like a lot of brands are more akin to weakly-flavored bread soda than a real fermented drink. I wanted to see if other people who drink kvass have any recommendations for what brands to try.

Another option is to home-brew kvass. Theoretically, this should be similar to brewing kombucha, or any other lightly fermented food or drink. It looks like there are even a few places where you can buy kvass 'starter kits'. A lot of instructions for homebrewing kvass suggest using brewer's yeast though, and it seems like it would be harder to limit the alcohol content this way. As far as I can tell, traditional kvass cultures are a mix of yeast and lactic-acid producing bacteria (again, similar to kombucha) - would using a kombucha starter culture work to brew kvass? If anyone here has experience brewing kvass, I'd love to hear about your experiences!

I love fried chicken sandwiches. I have loads of fast food options as well as one off restaurants around me that offer fried chicken sandwiches, some that it is their claim to fame. It doesn’t seem to matter where I go in search of the best fried chicken sandwiches, or how much money I spend, Popeyes is always the best.

Two topics to start discussion:

1. What is your favourite fried chicken place where you live? Bonus points if you live around Vancouver, BC, Canada and can introduce me to a new favourite chicken place.

2. What does Popeyes do to get such consistency across all locations, and why the heck is it so good?

I’m not a child, but I very often eat peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. They’re quick and easy to make, and I can leave them in my bag until lunch and then just eat them as-is. With banana slices inside, it’s a decent meal. I also prefer not eating meat, so it gets points for that too. But it’s not particularly exciting, not particularly well-balanced, and I frankly feel a little childish eating it.

The problem is that I very often have no refrigeration and no means of re-heating. I used to just have leftovers for lunch, but room temperature leftovers usually aren’t the most appealing.

For those of you who don’t buy lunch out, what do you do? Any recommendations for something that’s still tasty after sitting in a bag the whole morning?

I've been really bad at coming up with things to cook lately, resulting in me eating the same unhealthy food all the time. I'd like to change this and to get familiar with new recipes, so I was wondering if the users of Tildes have any good recipes to share. Vegetarian and vegan are preferred, but non-vegetarian recipes are also very welcome!

What are your go-to cheap, easy and healthy recipes?

Edit: I'm too overwhelmed by all your comments to respond to everybody individually, but I thank you all for the great suggestions, these are of great help!

I just made this coronation chickpea sandwich filler and I feel compelled to shout from the rooftops how good it is! I love a good meaty dish but I genuinely feel like this is better than the traditional coronation chicken version - to the point that I don't see a reason to bother with coronation chicken again. I will always have this instead now. There is a caveat; I did make a few tweaks to this:

• I replaced the tinned chickpeas with 200g of dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked with a few bay leaves and plenty of salt
• I replaced half of the mayonnaise with greek yoghurt (I do this for coleslaw and potato salad too and it's great)
• I toasted whole spices and made my own curry powder

Even without these changes I'm sure it's still a very tasty end result. Has anyone else had a similar experience? What vegetarian or vegan dishes have you found that are superior to their meat counterparts?

It doesn't need to be from countries known for "bad" cuisine. Just try to avoid obvious countries like Italy, France, Japan or China (as a handful of examples).

Having said the above, that is also coming from a western (European) perspective. If those countries are not well known for their cuisine in your area, then feel free to choose them!

Hello!

As I've been diagnosed with IBS, I've been looking at ways to reduce my symptoms and one of the options I've been told about is a low FODMAP diet.

I am still looking into this, and so far I've only read a bunch of confusing or incomplete/surface level information.

This made me curious about the experience that other people have had any recommendations or stories someone might have.

Also if you know of any good apps for tracking what you ate and how you've felt throughout the day, please let me know.

Thanks!

I've recently made my own Chai Spice blend courtesy of Meera Sodha's cookbook, Made in India: Recipes from an Indian Family Kitchen. Instead of just turning on the kettle and throwing in a teabag, this requires a little bit more effort and setting a pot on the stove in addition to making the spice blend itself. Sure it's not instantaneous gratification, but it's a lovely slow-down in comparison to my busy days and deliciously more flavorful than a typical teabag. It allows me to be present with what I am doing and enjoy it.

The smell of the spice as it starts to simmer into the milk and tea. The need to watch my pot of chai for the right moment to turn down the heat so it doesn't scald. The delicate balancing act of straining floating spices out to make a smoother cup. The gentle clings of a spoon to sweeten it all with a touch of sugar.

I'm curious about what other folks do as mindful acts of food and drink. It can be a comfort meal, a tasty snack, a special drink, or anything in between! Maybe we could all inspire each other to incorporate a new way to find moments of peace through a hobby we mutually love in the joy of cooking.

I'm constantly using the Better Than Bouillon vegetable base when I need vegetable broth, because it's so convenient, space efficient, and it keeps longer than those cartons of vegetable broth.

But, I recently looked at the ingredients and was a bit put off, as I've been trying to eat healthier (less salt, sugar, and processed ingredients.)

Does anyone have any recommendations for something with a similar level of convenience and shelf life?

I'm trying to compile a good list of foods that would travel well. I'm trying to avoid anything heavily processed with commercial preservatives (no Goldfish or fruit snacks, etc.)

These foods should keep for at least a day in standard outdoor temperatures. Also, they should not get physically fucked up by being in a backpack all day.

So far, I've got these:
Rucksack Sandwich (Baguette, salami, butter, pickles)
Scones
Granola (inline with avoiding preservatives, this can be easily made at home)
GORP mix

P.S.
Shoutout to Squeeze in Marfa, TX for the rucksack sandwiches.

My tomato and pepper harvest this year is going to be negligible (thanks, deer!), but I have tomatillos coming out of my ears. My favorite Salsa Verde recipe freezes well.

To the extent that everyone who grows tomatoes will have lots of green ones, here's a good chutney recipe that works well for water-bath canning:

Green Tomato Chutney

Servings: 3 pints

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs green tomatoes (a few ripe or partially ripe are fine to be included)
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 cup chopped red onion
1 cup golden raisin
1 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped candied ginger
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1/16 teaspoon ground nutmeg
(***For my taste, I'll mince in a couple of whatever fresh hot peppers I have in the garden, and increase other spices to taste, and add a chopped large knob of fresh ginger.)

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients in a medium sized (about 4 qt) thick-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove lid and simmer uncovered for an additional 15 minutes to thicken.

Notes:

Note: If desired, this recipe can be canned by processing filled (sterilized!) jars in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Recipe will fill six 8-oz jars or three 16-oz jars. Otherwise, chutney will keep in the refrigerator for a few months.

The other garden success story this year, heavy rain, weird weather, bugs, and pestiferous ungulates notwithstanding, is basil. Freaking huge bushes of every variety I planted: Italian Mountain, Genovese, Persian, Thai Kaprow, Thai Holy, and Purple Opal.

I'll be processing fresh Italian basil with olive oil and freezing it in silicone trays. Internet rumor has it that freezing doesn't treat fresh garlic well, and you're better off making pesto from frozen basil as needed.

I may do the same thing with neutral oil for the Persian basil, and peanut oil for the Thai, unless someone else has suggestions.

We'll also have about 50 lbs. of apples from a single tree. They're a little too organic for eating out of hand, unless you're comfortable with inadvertent insect protein ingestion. But drying, pies, and cake are definitely in the picture. This is a simple, reliable apple cake recipe that's easy to share around. I'm still digging for my old bakery Caramel Apple Torte recipe.

I really like pickled jalapenos, but my go to recipes are nachos and jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon. I'm trying to eat healthier, but I seem to be lacking some good recipes or ideas. I found a potato salad recipe which sounds really tasty, but still not terribly healthy.

Hello! I live in an area where a great part of socializing is done by going to bars and having a drink (or several). I don't drink alcohol, and always get weird stares after the third Nestea/Aquarius, plus I get bored from drinking the same thing over and over again. Sometimes the places we go to have the option of alcohol-free cocktails, but it's not the usual thing.

So, what are you suggestions of other drinks I could order, that do not contain alcohol? Things that I could drink in hot weather, day or night? I'm open to all sorts of flavours.

The ones I have listed:

• Coke
• Tea
• Coffee
• Aquarius
• Nestea

Thank you all for your help in advance!

I'm going to start with three questions but feel free to propose your own:

1. What if anything have you tried around finding and using more ethical sources of meat?

2. What cooking methods and recipes do you use that reduce the amount of meat you eat in a meal?

3. What vegetarian protein sources do you find palatable and tasty?

I’m going purely on YouTube vids for the technique. They all seem to agree to soak in water and then cook the rice cakes in stock, then add gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, sugar, cook until thick, top with spring onion and optionally add cheese. (I’m skipping the fish cakes).

Some recipes start by frying some garlic, some fry off the gochugaru etc for a minute, some add the white part of the spring onion much earlier… I’m not sure whether any of these steps are necessary/make a big difference.

Anyone who is familiar with the dish - is there anything extra you do to elevate this dish? Anything I should know about the cooking process?

After trusting my nana to pass on the details in anticipation of a small family gathering, this has turned into something else! I'm currently smoking a bunch of chicken drumsticks over maple wood chips but some of my lower effort choices going into battle today are:

Chocolate sorbet. I love this one because it's stupidly easy to make, can be made way in advance and is a naturally vegan/ dairy free option. Blending the mixture at the end is an essential, unskippable step. I used 80% cocoa solids and this time I've replaced the Grand Marnier with some 42% chocolate rum.

Ready made dolmedes from a tin. Another easy vegan/ veggie option, assuming you just get the ones stuffed with rice and herbs.

Caprese skewers. Easy veggie canapé with only some assembly required! Baby plum tomato, fresh basil leaf and mini mozzarella pearl on a skewer. Maybe drizzle over some pesto. Looks fancy arranged on a slate serving tray.

Boiled potatoes with really, really good butter. Cultured, unpasteurised stuff. It helps that these are potatoes from my garden too, instantly made fancier with the addition of fresh herbs.

For cooking I mean like making it largely from scratch. Eating out (or dining in) is hopefully self-explanatory. By premade meals I mean like ramen bowls, cans of soup, Stoufers or Banquet meals, frozen pizzas, etc. Throwing something together is like a sandwich, cereal, a box of Mac and cheese/ hamburger helper or a ramen packet where you add a boiled egg, leftover pork and some chives, etc-- stuff where it's mostly finished food that just requires a little bit of work.

I had triple jaw surgery 6 months ago, but things went wrong around a wisdom tooth and one of the implants, so I had a revision last month. As a consequence of that, I have not been allowed to chew since my jawbone needed peace and quiet to grow back together.

The suffering is soon over, though. On August 17 I can eat normally again! I have had multiple dreams of eating and chewing things normally, and I have even had unquiet dreams/nightmares of eating but then remembering that I'm not allowed to eat.

For reference, I have eaten nothing but mashed potatoes, soups, overcooked pasta, yoghurts... for the past month. Last time around, my first solid meal was a cheeseburger from McDonald's but that was definitely not very satisfying. So please help! What should my first real meal in a month be!?

PS: my frustration is expertly expressed in this moment in this video. I WANNA CHEW!

In addition to other uses of the ghee I personally really like that it is a good, mostly neutral base to add basically any flavoring desired and make homemade spread.

Some flavors that I so far tried are:

• Chili - excellent and easy to control how spicy the result is
• Garlic - both fresh, dried and a salty garlic paste. A kind poster has pointed out that it needs to be acidified or consumed in only a few short days or there is risk of developing botulism toxins - https://news.okstate.edu/articles/agriculture/2020/gedon_home-infused-oils.html
• Soy sauce - specifically shiitake mushrooms one
• Carob - not bad but the flavor is not really distinctive even if I add relatively lot of it. Perhaps I should tinker with it more
• Ajvar(tomato, eggplant, pepper mix)
• Horseradish
• Chill and bitter chocolate - did not turn out all that well but I will still try again to see if I can make a better result
• Ginger - dried

I probably should start keeping track of how much of something I add exactly but so far I do it just by guess. Usually something like one to three tablespoons for 150g of ghee or so.

Usually I simply add the warm ghee and the flavoring in the glass jar. I can not really use a mixer since I do small batches and do not want to have to clean it up afterwards. What I arrived at is to simply give the jar a good shake about every half an hour for a few hours. It is probably not the best solution but good enough.

It completely kills the longevity of the ghee. Especially the ingredients that are not dried but I do not really care since it is gone in a week anyway.

So far I only made ghee from store bought white butter so I am not sure how much difference it would make to make it directly from milk or from less processed butter.

Is there someone here who tried something similar? If so what flavors have you tried or recommend?

Edit: edited the problematic garlic entry.

Greetings ~food! Not too long ago, I posted a topic asking for cookbook recommendations and received a flood of amazing recommendations. Thank you all for sharing your favorites; I have expanded my collection thanks to that thread! One that has become a quick favorite of mine is Pasta Grannies, although I accidentally grabbed Book 2 and I'm still needing to grab Book 1.

Something that has dawned on me with that cookbook is the desire to make all the recipes similar to how Ash Ketchum wanted to catch all the Pokémon! The first recipe I made was Rina's Capriccio and oh lordy did it blow my mind how good it was and that I made it! My only complaint was the struggle to just pick one recipe to try and I'm aspiring to make a pasta dish every Sunday now.

Since there are several recipes from Pasta Grannies between the two books and their Youtube channel, I'm indecisive on what to do next. To all who have dived into their recipes, what are your favorites that are absolute must tries? What are some that might not be worth the effort? I'd love to hear everyone's experience with pasta making regardless if it's a Pasta Grannies recipe!

I'm trying to put together a small amount of kitchen equipment that I can take with me when we travel. And I'm looking for suggestions. I've been stung by holiday let kitchens before missing seemingly small but essential items.

So far I've got:

• Digital scales
• Good sized chopping board
• Sharp knife + sharpening stone
• Peeler
• Tongs
• Measuring spoons
• Small jars of salt, sugar, and oil
• Coffee grinder (yes it is essential)

Edit (community suggestions)

• Swiss army knife
• Probe thermometer

Any recommendations on other things you've missed in holiday houses before?

We have a multi-cooker (Ninja Foodie Max) which gets most of its usage as an air frier or pressure cooker.

We want to start meal prepping as with two kids time in the kitchen is getting increasingly difficult. Our go to big reusable meals are Bolognese or curries which we are getting a bit bored of, so what's your go to meal prep recipes?

I'm not sure exactly what you'd call it, I always think of it as just "chow" but it's a large portion of what I eat. Basically anything that is-- few ingredients, one pot or pan, everything cooked together and thrown in at the same time, cheap, easy, relatively quick, but hearty and filling.

So like my go to is a one potato, half an onion, cabbage, and one de-cased spicy sausage. Plus seasonings, depending on how I'm feeling either Indian (those premixed spice packets) or asian (ginger and garlic powder, mushroom soy sauce and chilli oil) . The prep work is maybe 2-3 minutes then 15ish cooking. I view it as "I want a cooked meal, but I don't want to spend any time on it."

Now that the summer bounty at the farmer's market is in full swing, I'd love to hear about your recipes that showcase the fresh fruits and vegetables you get from the farmer's market, or the garden if you grow your own. I'm thinking of the recipes that really let the flavors of the produce shine.

Two of my favorite farmer's market items are sweet corn and tomatoes, and I've come to realize the corn and tomatoes you can buy at the grocery store are just sad imitations of the real thing. My favorite recipe right now is a simple sweet corn and cherry tomato salad, with a little basil, flaky salt, lime juice, and good olive oil. I'll add mozarella or feta and pepitas sometimes for a little extra oomph, but the simplicity and flavors are heavenly. What are your favorites?

This spring my wife and I started growing some herbs in containers on our (quite large) balcony. I got some nice big pots bc I know a lot of these like some space, and I planted a bunch of staples. On a whim, I planted some spearmint bc I figured it would be nice to have some fresh mint on hand for cocktails.

I knew mint was hardy and tends to grow out of control, but I didn't think much about it since it's in its own large standalone pot, away from my other plants. But Y'ALL. My other plants are dong okay but there is SO MUCH MINT. I'm barely doing anything and it's THRIVING. I don't even drink that many cocktails.

Other than cocktails and mint tea, I have no idea what to with the sheer quantity of mint I have. Even just ocassionally pruning the bits that stick out or have flower buds results in massive handfuls of mint that I don't have any idea how to use up.

Please give me advice on how to use up my mint!

One of my favourites is inspired by Thai green curry and includes:

• Coconut Milk
• Homemade Vegetable Broth (as needed)
• Homemade Green Curry Paste
• Shallots, Garlic, & Ginger
• Kaffir Lime Leaves
• Green Lentils
• Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice & Zest
• Lemongrass Stalks
• Green Bell Peppers
• Solano Peppers
• Bamboo Shoots
• Snow Peas
• Zucchini
• Spinach
• Coconut Sugar
• Soy Sauce
• Salt
• Spices: Cumin, Chilli Powder, Red Pepper Flakes, Black Garlic, Turmeric, Coriander, and Pepper (as needed)

Served with crispy tofu, coconut rice, Thai basil, and homemade “roti” (using sweetened condensed coconut milk and avocado oil).

—

I think we’ve had some variation of this recipe every week for the last two years. It’s not too hard for me to make after work, makes great leftovers, freezes well, and seems to be well liked.

I do try to make as many things from “scratch” as I can, since I find growing the vegetables and herbs, as well as making my own milks, dough, and tofu, really elevate the whole thing. Though ingredients that are store bought or from farmers markets work just as well.

I really like the "Broccoli in Garlic Sauce" dish offered in Chinese takeout restaurants.

I have a few big Asian food markets near me.

Is it possible to buy the garlic sauce the takeout places use in a jar? If so, what would it be called? I imagine there is more than one type of jarred sauce called "garlic sauce" in the world.

Has anyone been experimenting with that? I recently found some fairly easy tutorials on tiktok. I always thought you need like special coagulates to make tofu, but apparently with many beans you can just boil them or add some acid to make them firm. And yeah, you can make tofu from essentially any beans, peas or lentils.

I tried making some green peas tofu, and so far i'm not too happy with the taste. It has a wierd, a bit caustic, aftertaste. I'm not sure if it's the green pea or my recipe...
I will definitely be trying lentils next!

For example, if I want to add ground flax to a brownie mix or oats to muffins? What if I want to add some extra dried blueberries to boxed blueberry muffin mix? The box instructions usually say 1/4 cup of oil and 1 egg, and I'm wondering if I need to double both or either if I want to add some more dry ingredients. Or is there maybe a max level at which I don't need to add extra oil/eggs, like a quarter cup at most of oats?

I know baking is a science and ratios are important, but still it'd be nice to have a way to make storebought convenience mixes a wee bit more filling or healthier. I'm used to substituting applesauce for oil in brownies, but I'm curious what else I could do with a storebought mix.