Cooking tip--questionable?

[Jetfire]

As for Pasta Carbonara, I ate it for the first time just a couple years ago. Deeeeelicious! Have never made it, but perhaps one day soon. Recently, I have been playing around with a bunch of things I've never done before. I love eggplant, buy have never actually cooked with it, being a bit intimidated by it. At a recent farmer's market, I bought one, and have been having fun with it. Used it in a veggie stir fry to decent success, and made my first ever Eggplant Parmesan to much greater success. And as Eggplant Parmesan is one of my favorite Italian dishes, this is a good thing.

This is the first recipe I tried and it worked out great. I think I used more bacon and cheese and garlic but that's the way I like it. They use the saved pasta water to make the sauce a bit more saucy, and it is needed.

It stands up decently as leftovers as well, for those who take them in to nuke for lunches. Separate it into leftover dishes before it sets up too much, and if you nuke it, add a splash of water to help rehydrate it.

[Jester]

Jester, have you tried making baba ghanouj? If you like eggplant, you should love that.

As much as I love eggplant, I've not been a huge fan of baba ghanouj the few times I've tried it, so I've made no attempts to actually make it myself.

[Shangri-laschild]

On the subject of pasta, have you guys ever heard of the idea of rinsing the pasta after cooking it? Never had heard of that idea till a friend's mom told me about it and it sounded weird.

[Jester]

Heard if it. Seen it. Done it. No longer do it. Now I just drain it.

But I'm sure many people do do it.

[Jetfire]

Yeah my mom rinsed pasta, so that's what I did for years. Now I just salt (Kosher or Sea Salt) the water before boiling and drain the pasta after cooking. Leaves a nice salty taste to the noodles that way.

[CoffeeMonkey]

It's generally not good to rinse pasta, because as previously discussed, the starch is what gets the sauce to stick to the noodles.

My mom does rinse hers, though because she makes a lot and it will sit in the pot while we're eating. So, if not rinsed, anyone going for seconds gets a big gummy mess. This is exacerbated by the fact that she cooks pasta to death. In general, I prefer to toss my pasta with a little bit of butter, and that keeps it from getting sticky.

Of course, if you're being totally proper and dressing your pasta in the sauce before serving, the whole thing is moot.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

Rinsing cooked pasta in cold water stops it from overcooking when your pasta is ready before your sauce is, or you need to leave it sit for a bit before serving. If you are ready to serve as the pasta finishes cooking I'm not sure there would be a reason to rinse, just drain and serve.

[Jester]

My mom does rinse hers, though because she makes a lot and it will sit in the pot while we're eating. So, if not rinsed, anyone going for seconds gets a big gummy mess. This is exacerbated by the fact that she cooks pasta to death.

Two cures for this.

1. Somehow convince your mother to cook the pasta more al dente.

2. If she insists on cooking the pasta to death, once it's drained and rinsed, immediately put it in with the sauce and mix it all together.

[ArcticChicken]

Hey! Some corner are worth cutting. And one of these days, I really will make pasta from scratch.

I had homemade, well, restaurant made, pasta for the first time a couple months ago. Blew me away how much better it was than the box stuff. I haven't learned to make my own yet, but it's on my list. Right after pie crust, which was my new years resolution that I haven't started working on yet.

On the subject of pasta, have you guys ever heard of the idea of rinsing the pasta after cooking it?

It's really important for a lot of gluten free pasta, to stop it from cooking. That stuff turns to glue at the drop of a hat.

[Kittish]

I had homemade, well, restaurant made, pasta for the first time a couple months ago. Blew me away how much better it was than the box stuff. I haven't learned to make my own yet, but it's on my list. Right after pie crust, which was my new years resolution that I haven't started working on yet.

I sometimes pull out my pasta machine and make a batch of noodles. They are far, far tastier than store bought. But they're a lot of work to do well. Then I have to work out some place to let them dry that the cat can't get into, he likes fresh pasta, too.

Pie crust turns out to be rather easier than I expected. I'll be glad to share the recipe I use if you'd like it. It's a very tasty crust, and if you work it right it comes out in all these beautiful flaky layers.

[Jester]

I've actually made pie crust, and it really isn't that tough at all. Kinda fun, too.

I know, I know...I'm always saying I don't bake, and for the most part, I don't. Bit a few years ago, I did do a sit down dinner for 20 people for a friend who was trying to start a dinner club, and he insisted on a dessert course. So I did a frozen piña colada pie. (Three if them, actually.) And pride prevented me from even considering store-bought pie crusts.

[Kittish]

frozen piña colada pie.

My crust would probably go wonderfully with that, I use rum for it.

[Jester]

The original recipe called for a macadamia nut crust. Even though my friend was paying for everything, I just couldn't justify the cost of the amount of macadamias I would need, as those suckers are really expensive. So I made standard graham cracker crusts, but On a whim I laced them with shredded coconut, and it worked really, really well.

Would be interested to see the recipe for your rum crusts.

[MoonCat]

Jester, pie crusts are used for pot pies too...I bet you could make a darn good chicken or beef or turkey pot pie.

[mathnerd]

Pastry crusts can be tricky. They're not difficult, but can be overworked fairly easily. Graham cracker crusts are generally super easy. My youngest son is the designated crust maker in the family, and he's been doing the graham cracker crusts for my cheesecakes since he was three.