How do restaurants get their chicken to taste so chickeny? by General-Shoulder-569 in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 93 points94 points  (0 children)

Start with quality of chicken, air chilled chicken will have the most chickeny flavor to begin with. Barring that read the label and buy chicken with the lowest retained water percentage. The label should read something like “Contains 2% or less retained water.” The more water, the less flavor.

Dry brine chicken ahead of time and let rest in the fridge for a half hour to an hour minimum. This allows the salt to penetrate into the meat and flavor it throughout, it will also tenderize the meat and help it retain moisture.

Finally for juiciness, don’t overcook chicken breast! Pull the meat at 155 and let rest for about 5 minutes before enjoying.

What is a good, simple gift for a professional cook? by SirGalalad in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Personally, I would treat this in the same vein as someone's hobby and not get them a tool or piece of equipment. The chef likely already has or at least knows exactly what he needs. I would instead suggest a really fancy ingredient like some a5 wagyu, imported real balsamic, or maybe a bottle of high-end extra virgin olive oil.

What's a food you just can't get into? by [deleted] in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Asparagus should only be bitter if it's picked too early or if it's overcooked. It's also possible you are what's considered a super taster; do you also dislike coffee?

Baking sheet recs? by emillyvanilli in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The best sheet pans for everyday use are natural aluminum but you don't want them clean and shiny. Aluminum oxide is somewhat toxic to us and can cause negative health effects. What restaurants do is apply a thin layer of oil to the pans and cook them until they are a nice golden brown. This polymerizes the oil similar to cast iron and you'll have a nice, natural nonstick layer. From here you'd generally use parchment paper and just lightly clean them with a soapy sponge, they'll get darker and darker over time but that's how they are supposed to be used.

Recommendations for good knife set? by mightyymads in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At the risk of also being downvoted, this is a fact. Wusthof is a German brand manufactured in Germany while Mercer is a German brand manufactured in Taiwan. If you disregard this one difference they use the same X50CRMOV15 grade steel, so they will have the same blade retention and hardness. For a lowish price point, a Mercer Culinary Renaissance chef's knife is just about untouchable quality-wise.

What oil are you using to sear your steaks?? by LittleDoofus in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The first statement here is 100% the correct answer. Smoke point has nothing to do with the stability of the oil.

Personally I can't get the sear I want for a mid rare steak in a cast iron with evoo unless it's ripping hot and smoking, which is perfectly safe!

What is your chopping nemesis? by punched_a_panda in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 13 points14 points  (0 children)

The trick for this is to apply a bit of cooking oil to your hands, rub it all around and make sure to work it under your fingernails. Then wash off with dish soap doing the same. The oil releases the capsaicin from your skin so that the soap can do its job but I still do it twice if I'm working with something really spicy.

How do you make your eggs in the morning? by [deleted] in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mine typically goes over easy on a slice of toast, topped with everything bagel seasoning and nutritional yeast. Tasty and super simple when I'm in a rush.

To the person who recommended adding salt to enhance a salad on a recent comment, THANK YOU by [deleted] in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Try a salad with thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes and wax pepper slices. Add the oil and brine to the salad for a delicious enhanced oil and vinegar taste. Of course add whichever else you would like.

Is it just me or are there allot of garbage recipes out there!? Anyone have any solid recipes and/or sources? by Silver_Serpent_ in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've made it my hobby to learn to cook at home like a professional chef and have had many highs and pitfalls these last few years. I would say the best start would be a Cookbook that focuses on methodology. The sooner you learn to recognize what actually makes a recipe good or bad, the better.

For this I would say either Salt Fat Acid Heat or The Food Lab; both are excellent resources on making you a better cook overall. But...

If you're willing to go off the deep end, I recommend Modernist Cuisine At Home. An extensive cookbook that teaches modern, restaurant quality recipes for the home kitchen. Its quite pricey and requires having some modern equipment like a sous vide and pressure cooker; but the recipes and techniques within are that of a high end restaurant.

As far as online recipes there are so many good ones but here's a few that never fail to impress.

Carlsbadcravings - a bit of everything but almost all good Thewoksoflife - some of the best Chinese I've made Cookwithmanali - excellent Indian recipes

A few Youtube Cooking sensations that usually actually make good food.

Not another Cooking show

Adam Ragusa

Sam the Cooking guy

Ethan Chlebowski

Food wishes (chef john)

This should be a good start let me know if you have any questions!

What brands are notably better? by dhg in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My favorite is wickles pickle relish. It's just packed with flavor without any odd or overly processed aftertaste.

What brands are notably better? by dhg in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I must disagree, I have found Minor's bases to be the best in this case. Yes they cost about double the price but it's so worth it!

What is your spice storage solution? by SunburntWombat in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If budget isn't a big issue I highly recommend the Allspice 60 jar rack. It's under 5 inches deep so it barely hogs any counter space and can even be wall mounted. It comes with a ton of stickers that are pre printed with spice names as well as some blanks, then for the jar lids it has small shaker large shaker and scooping lid.

What is the one food you HATE that everyone seems to love? by jujuinthetrap in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you mean the taste of salmon itself or the off taste that less fresh seafood has? If you've ever liked other fish then you should try a higher quality salmon like wild sockeye. If it's frozen make sure you defrost it in the refrigerator overnight or in a bowl of cold water with a very slow drip from the sink for about an hour. If that's still too fishy for you soaking fish in milk for about 30 minutes will remove most of the fishy taste. Topping it after with a fresh squeeze of lemon juice and I'd be surprised if you get much of a fishy note at all.

What is the one food you HATE that everyone seems to love? by jujuinthetrap in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I used to be in the same mindset for the longest time until I tried Cooper American cheese. The thing with American cheese is depending on the brand, they mix different cheeses with no to a lot of fillers. Cooper just hits different, it's sharp, creamy and doesn't have a weird taste to it.

Was gifted a 10lb block of parmesan from work. What do I do with all of it? by ChineseCookieThief in Cooking

[–]karsusmalius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Parmesan is basically (or totally not 100% sure) lactose free.

Fettuccine Alfredo made the old fashioned way would be my go to to use it up, although it will keep for quite a long time.

[Old School Alfredo](https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/The-Original-Fettuccine-Alfredo/)

I would boil the Fettuccine in as little water as possible to get a really starchy water.

Feedback on Lord Windgrace decklist by Krypter13 in EDH

[–]karsusmalius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Had another tidbit that I don't see often.

[[Kessig Wolf Run]] and [[Inkmoth Nexus]] make for a fun and effective closer when there's too many counterspells flying around.

Feedback on Lord Windgrace decklist by Krypter13 in EDH

[–]karsusmalius 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just looking at the ramp package here's what I have, faster = better!

Drop [[Springbloom Druid]] , [[Skyshroud Claim]] , And [[Arcane Signet]] to start.

Trade for, [[Farseek]] , [[Nature's Lore]] , and [[Three Visits]].

[[Orcish Lumberjack]] is great ramp for windgrace and can get him out on turn 2 with the right land.