I've heard that most of the heat in hot peppers is in the seeds and that if you remove them, the pepper will be mild. Is that true?--Robert The active ingredient in peppers that makes them hot is a "capsaicin" (pronounced "cap-SAY-i-sin"), a colorless, pungent, crystalline compound, C18H27NO3. The amount of capsaicin varies not only with... Read more →

I am having guests for brunch and want to make larger quantities of my favorite strata. Can I just multiply all of the ingredients by four and follow the instructions?-- Andrea Generally, it is possible to double (or half) a recipe just by multiplying or dividing by two, provided you follow some basic rules. Beyond that, it is usually... Read more →

One way to save on grocery bills while serving top quality food is to be a conscious shopper, making sure that you are buying the best ingredients. Not only will they taste better, they will handle more consistently and last longer in storage. Here are some examples.   In the grocery store recently, I was picking over the green... Read more →

Could you please tell me if it is possible to use a Bain Marie to heat food so that it can be preserved. I seem to remember my grandmother and my mother using the technique many years ago in Zambia to make preserves, etc. I need to know how long one should leave the bottled substances in the pan above the pan with water, so that... Read more →

Every time I try to slice a roast, the taste of the meat is really good but I end up with shredded meat instead of nice neat slices. What is the secret to getting good sliced roast beef?-- Toni As the meat cooks, the fat and connective tissue in it dissolve from the heat. Most of the connective tissue is collagen, which partly turns... Read more →

Why do some bread recipes say to let the dough rise once before forming into loaves while others say to let it rise twice? -- Eileen There are three basic factors at work in the amount of time that dough is allowed to rise -- ingredients, convenience and flavor. Doughs that are allowed to rise longer tend to develop more complex... Read more →

Sometimes, when I boil potatoes, after I drain them I find gray or black spots on the surface. What is this, and are they still safe to eat? -- Marianna Those spots are caused by a chemical reaction involving iron, the phenolic compound chlorogenic acid and oxygen. Because it occurs more often at the end of the potato closest to the end... Read more →

What is the best way to remove the skin from garlic?-- J.M. There are a number of ways to remove the skin from garlic. To start, break as many cloves of garlic as you need from the head. If the central stalk on the head of garlic is stiff, then you can usually just twist and pull it out, making it easy to break off the cloves. Otherwise... Read more →

I like to make sourdough bread on occasion, but I'm not up for feeding and caring for a starter all of the time. Is there some way that I can save the starter for times when I want it?-- Ruby The first step in making sourdough bread is to make a starter. Basically, a starter is similar to a pre-ferment (see Bread Pre-ferments), except... Read more →

When a friend of mine heard that I run a cooking Q&A site, he asked jokingly how to get his KD to come out al dente. At least I hope he was joking. The question, though, got me thinking about the fact that cooking is a multi-sensory task and that recipes frequently fail to capture the real knowledge that makes them work. Back in my... Read more →