What's the one thing you just can't cook/bake...

[Zemgirl]

Just in time for the holidays, I stink at making latkes (potato pancakes) from scratch. I end up with so much of my fingers in the mix that it's really a meat dish.

I stick to the box mix, now.

No!!!!!!! Can't you use a food processor or something similar? Latkes should only ever be made from scratch.

If you're ever in Israel during the holiday, let me know and I will take care of this alarming situation

[Jenny]

I have that problem with roasted potatoes. I've tried everything - parboiling, roasting raw - everything. If a Brit could please chime in and tell me how to do it I'll be forever grateful. I did hear something about dusting them with flour but I'm scared to try it.

Here's what Jamie Oliver did on one of his Christmas specials that I just watched on the weekend - lots of good tips here, but ignore the picture as it's for another recipe - Perfect Roast Potatoes.

[TheGirlCanSkate]

Here is how I do it: http://chocolateandzucchini.com/arch...d_potatoes.php

[TheGirlCanSkate]

Also - thank you to the poster who offered egg advice. I had the most perfect scrambled eggs this weekend!

[milanessa]

Here's what Jamie Oliver did on one of his Christmas specials that I just watched on the weekend - lots of good tips here, but ignore the picture as it's for another recipe - Perfect Roast Potatoes.

Here is how I do it: http://chocolateandzucchini.com/arch...d_potatoes.php

Thanks to both of you! The recipes sound similar so I think they contain the secret. Trying it tonight.

[ArtisticFan]

The most useful tip ever given to me on scrambling eggs is to turn the heat off under the pan about 3/4 through the scrambling process. The pan will retain enough heat to finish the cooking process and the eggs don't over cook and end up too dry or hard scrambled.

This helped so much. Thank you!

[mkats]

Pascale's roasted potato magic unfolds thusly: the potatoes are parboiled for five minutes first, drained, and returned to the saucepan. At this point -- and this is the crucial step, so pay attention -- you grab the lidded pan and shake it vigorously, which not only is fun, but also serves to make the surface of the potato pieces fuzzy from rubbing their hips one against the other.

And wouldn't you know it, it is this very fuzz that fosters the formation of a splendid crust when you then bake the potatoes, while the parboiling step reduces the baking time and ensures that the flesh inside stays moist.

INTERESTING. Never heard of this before, but Jamie Oliver's page also gives the same advice. I'll have to try this next time, thanks Jenny and TheGirlCanSkate!!

PS Milanessa - I tried the flour trick - didn't work for me either

[Artemis@BC]

Tourtiere is a meat pie - do you make it with tofu instead? All the French Canadians I know are very fussy about their tourtieres, and very opinionated as to the best way to make it (theirs of course ) and I'm trying to imagine a few of them if you were to say it's filled with tofu!

Not tofu but soy (either TVP or packaged "ground round" like Yves.)

And yes, I have no doubt that most Québécois would shudder at the very thought of a vegetarian tourtière. Luckily I've never had to serve it to anyone from la belle province.

When I first became a vegetarian we'd make a veggie tourtière and a carnivore one. But after trying both even the meat-eaters in the family proclaimed a preference for the vegetarian one ... so that's the only one we make now. And it makes sense, really -- unless you're using a really strongly flavoured meat like venison, which we never did, it's the spices (and, to a lesser extent the beer) that really gives it the unique tourtière taste.

[Jenny]

Interesting! I remember being at a big holiday party and talking to the MIL of the hostess, as we sampled the mini tourtieres at the buffet. I said I was interested in a good recipe and might ask the hostess for hers; the woman immediately declared that her own recipe was far superior, and when I said "but this one is quite good, no?" she said, "but I am a LeBlanc!"

For those not versed in French Canadian history, the LeBlancs are one of the original Acadian families who settled in Nova Scotia centuries ago.

[nubka]

Crispy potatoes of any kind - fries, roasted potatoes, etc. I've tried the soaking in salt water, using extra oil, etc. and they just do not crisp up. I know it's just me because I've moved a lot in the last few years and FOUR ovens cannot all have the same problem Any advice?

I stink at frying potatoes, too. I've tried everything, but they always end up looking like mutilated hash browns...

[Grannyfan]

rice!!!! either not cooked enough or soggy

When my husband was alive and my kids were at home, I cooked rice a lot because he preferred it to potatoes. I never had a problem with it turning out alright except that it would always boil over at some point and I'd have to add more water. I eventually started cooking it in the microwave, and it came out perfect every time, and no boiling over. It's been a long time, and I don't remember the proportions exactly, but I think it was about the same as stove top. I do remember that I always used a Corning Ware dish, about a 2 quart size, one of the old square ones with the blue flower.

[mkats]

I feel like I should have advice on the rice front, being Asian and all, but I have to admit I cheated and just bought a rice cooker.

[nubka]

I feel like I should have advice on the rice front, being Asian and all, but I have to admit I cheated and just bought a rice cooker.

Rice cookers rock!

[milanessa]

Rice cookers suck - at least the 2 I've tried.

[TheGirlCanSkate]

I feel like I should have advice on the rice front, being Asian and all, but I have to admit I cheated and just bought a rice cooker.

My household is Asian and in all the Asian families we know, everyone has a rice cooker (and a hot water machine) ! You don't have to watch it and it's perfect every time.

[mkats]

Agreed, unless you're my dad, who always thinks he knows better than the rice cooker so he fiddles with the water level as he sees fit We had to ban him from using the rice cooker, as he was the only person in our family who somehow managed to consistently make undercooked or overcooked rice.

[TheGirlCanSkate]

My inlaws tease me when they saw me measure water and rice. I was told to do it this way. http://drizzleofsunshine.blogspot.co...er-method.html

[Jenny]

Sometimes an appliance is the answer - I love my egg cooker. No pot, no need to turn on the stove, no timer, no complicated instructions of when to remove from the heat, etc. Just set it and when the buzzer goes off, they're done exactly how you want them, and never a grey ring. I even fake poached eggs (which I've never been able to do) by doing a medium-soft and then carefully peeling for awesome benedict or florentine eggs. I have a cheapie one by Toastmaster that I've had for 20 years and used too many times to count.

[skatemommy]

Yes, I also suck at roasting potatos. Never, ever turn out decent. Now, rice on the other hand....I buy the Jasmine rice from Walmart and follow the directions to a T. Simmer 20 minutes, remove from heat for 10 and fluff. I swear it turns out perfect every time. If you take the lid off of the pan and mess with it (as my hubby is want to do) it ruins it. My job on stir fry night is to make the rice because it turns our perfect; but it is SO easy. I add a little olive oil to the mix and it seems to prevent it from sticking to the pan even though it is a sticky sort of rice.

[nubka]

Rice cookers suck - at least the 2 I've tried.

That's too bad. How do they suck? Rice too dry, too wet?