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Originally posted by fluffygurl:
Um how long do you bake a potato for? I always eat baked potatoes in the canteen at work and I would like to know how to cook one. Im a bit scared of my microwave. We got a microwave off my auntie cept its a really old huge one from the early 90's that makes little squealing noises when its turned on (You think Im joking but Im not It sounds like Im microwaving a mouse)so that leaves my fan assisted oven. So please help!

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Fluff you have to be kidding, not one week after the national day and you are owning up to not being able to bake a spud. Shame on you!

Dry baked is great, slice the potato in half and rub oil all over it (it doesn't take much oil just enough to glisten), sprinkle with salt/pepper/paprika and bake at 200oC for 10 mins then reduce to 180oC for 30-40mins.

I usually poke mine with a fork to see if it is cooked.

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Originally posted by poppy:
Ok, I have a question. I see lots of recipes that call for ham, but I'm not sure where to get it. I mean, the only ham at the store as far as I can see is deli sliced ham or ham in tin cans. Where would I find ham that I could cube to put in recipes?

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Originally posted by ralphyr:
Fluff you have to be kidding, not one week after the national day and you are owning up to not being able to bake a spud. Shame on you!

Dry baked is great, slice the potato in half and rub oil all over it (it doesn't take much oil just enough to glisten), sprinkle with salt/pepper/paprika and bake at 200oC for 10 mins then reduce to 180oC for 30-40mins.

I usually poke mine with a fork to see if it is cooked.

The quick way is a quick blast(5 mins) in the microwave, poke with a fork before you put it in with the mouse and bake for 15mins in a hot oven.

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Ha! If you want creamed, boiled steamed or fried then Im your girl. Baking just baffles me. Ill be trying this tomorrow though. Thanks for the help guys

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Originally posted by Drea D:
Can you make good soup from frozen peas?

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Originally posted by Lulue:
[B]Re the brown rice thing - I think if you put it in water in the fridge over night, it takes heap less time to cook (you discard the fridge water and replace with fresh water before cooking)[B]

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Originally posted by Drea D:
Cool! Would you post the recipe for me, please?

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I made this last night so it's fresh in my head!

Cream of Spinach Soup (but can use any frozen veggie).

1 1/2 c. water
3 cubes chicken bouillon
1 10oz package chopped frozen spinach
1/4 cup flour
3 T butter
3 cups milk
onion (dried added at end or fresh added with spinach and water)
salt and pepper

In medium saucepan, bring water, bouillon and spinach to a boil. Lower heat and cook until spinach is done. In the meantime, take another saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour to butter and cook for a minute or two. Be careful not to burn! Whisk milk slowly into butter/flour mixture. Keep stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Add salt and pepper and dried onion. Add spinach mixture to milk mix.

"Instant Brown Rice" Boil brown rice and double the amount of water for 10 minutes. Let sit for several hours or all day. You will have perfectly cooked rice.

"10 Minute Brown Rice" Bring brown rice and double the amount of water to a boil. Let sit for several hours or all day. Rice will be perfectly cooked in 10 minutes.

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Originally posted by kena:
In case anybody wondered, you can freeze cilantro, but it gets mushy/wilted. So you can use it in a stew or a soup afterwards, but not in a salad for instance.

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Originally posted by jstrizzy:
so about Meyer lemons. they're sweeter than regular lemons, right? so if I wanted to use them in my kick-ass recipe for lemon bars, should I use less sugar than usual?

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Originally posted by minxx:

Cream of Spinach Soup (but can use any frozen veggie).

1 1/2 c. water
3 cubes chicken bouillon

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i don't have any bouillon; do you think i could just sub chicken broth for this?

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Originally posted by hbdanielle:
i don't have any bouillon; do you think i could just sub chicken broth for this?

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Originally posted by hbdanielle:
i don't have any bouillon; do you think i could just sub chicken broth for this?

i've been looking for new things to do with frozen spinach.

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i ended up going with the broth since it was on hand, and you're right polly, it was a bit lacking in flavor. i just dumped in lots and lots of garlic and onions to compensate. oh, and cheddar cheese. i was pms-ing, and cheese makes everything better.

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Originally posted by hbdanielle:
cheese makes everything better.

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Originally posted by muppet_girl:
This might be a "duh" question, but will a stew have a very different flavor if the meat is cooked separately and added with the bulk of the ingredients, like the vegetables? Note, this is a chicken stew and the pot is supposed to be drained after browning the chicken, before adding other ingredients.

Thank you.

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Originally posted by Nieci:
Just in case anyone was wondering

salted water for boiling

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Originally posted by minxx:
Why do carrots explode in the microwave?

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