THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

ariarnia

Karmacat wrote: »

So that isn't essential?

If you're cooking a recipe that's in cups (and everything is in cups) then the size of your cup doesn't matter. I use my coffee mugs.

If you're cooking a recipe that's mostly in cups - maybe it's got two medium eggs and 100ml of milk - then you need to use the right size cups for the ratio.

You use your cones when it's a recipe in grams or oz and you don't want to have to weigh the ingredients or you want to scale up the ratios - because a cup doesn't always equal the same weight of an ingredient.

Whole Wheat Flour: 1 cup = 4 1/2 oz
White Granulated Sugar: 1 cup = 7 oz
Brown Sugar: 1 cup = 7 1/2 oz
Powdered Sugar: 1 cup = 4 oz
Chopped Nuts: 1 cup = 4 oz

ivyleaf

Some years ago I bought a set of cups in Lakeland - the ones where each size is a different colour.

I couldn't work out why they didn't seem to be quite the sizes they were supposed to be. it turned out they were metric cups rather than Imperial. So I haven't used them as i find it too confusing; presumably they are a different size in comparison to, say, a medium egg.

moneyistooshorttomention

That's the one - ie why I have two sizes of cups I guess. I must have a metric set and an imperial set. Ditto to the two sizes of measuring spoons.

Karmacat

ariarnia wrote: »

If you're cooking a recipe that's in cups (and everything is in cups) then the size of your cup doesn't matter. I use my coffee mugs.

If you're cooking a recipe that's mostly in cups - maybe it's got two medium eggs and 100ml of milk - then you need to use the right size cups for the ratio.

You use your cones when it's a recipe in grams or oz and you don't want to have to weigh the ingredients or you want to scale up the ratios - because a cup doesn't always equal the same weight of an ingredient.

Whole Wheat Flour: 1 cup = 4 1/2 oz
White Granulated Sugar: 1 cup = 7 oz
Brown Sugar: 1 cup = 7 1/2 oz
Powdered Sugar: 1 cup = 4 oz
Chopped Nuts: 1 cup = 4 oz

:j:j:j

I think I'd find the scaling very difficult, but I'd manage - or I'd come on here and bleat

I'm going to go back to the start of this measuring lark and copy all the posts, thriftwizard has also written a couple that are great.

You lovely people you :kisses3:

Si_Clist

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

... doing overnight oats ...

Sorry, but I have to ask ...

moneyistooshorttomention

Overnight oats basically means soaking your porridge oats overnight in milk (or the various milk substitutes around these days - eg rice milk, oat milk, etc) with any added extras that are "soakable" that you fancy (hence the courgette version I just tried). One could also soak a bit of dried fruit in with them if liked.

Then - on taking those overnight oats out of the fridge come breakfast time the next day add toppings as required. So - that could be fresh fruit/defrosted frozen fruit/nut butter/cream/seeds/nuts/basically whatever you like that seems appropriate as a porridge addition.

Just eat it. No need to cook it.

So - basically it's a no-cook porridge equivalent.

Si_Clist

Thank you, MITTTM. Gosh, no such sophistication here - just one small Snoopy cup of organic jumbo oats in a pan, a carefully-measured two-and-a-bit dittos of water, half a teaspoonful of salt, lid on the pan and put on hob. Next morning, wake up, go down, turn on gas while getting kitchen woodburner going, turn gas down when it's bubbling nicely, simmer and stir occasionally whilst faffing letting hens out and so forth, pour into bowl, add a splodge of last year's bramble jam and scoff.

thriftwizard wrote: »

Karmacat, we started off with Sandor Katz's Wild Fermentation and have since progressed to his Art of Fermentation.

Same here. I am always impressed by the ability of our distant cousins over the pond to give their spawn impressive names. Sandor Katz still ranks equal in my book with Hope Sandoval, singer with the very wonderful Mazzy Star. Oh to have a family name that sounds like a patented narcotic ...

jk0

My father used to cook porridge overnight in a double boiler for some reason. Anyone know why? Seems rather a waste of energy to me, but it was lovely. It was such a faff though, we only had porridge on Sunday mornings.

moneyistooshorttomention

Si Clist - you could call it "sophistication".

On the other hand - you could call it "low boredom threshold".

I have to experiment with food regularly - because otherwise I get so fed-up with the "same old same old".

Experiment for the day just been had as part of dinner tonight being - I hadnt realised its possible to spiralise sweet potatoes. Cue for sauted spiralised sweet potatoes forming the basis of dinner tonight (complete with poached eggs/nearest British equivalent to sriracha sauce/olives/feta cheese/avocado/spring onions).

ariarnia

jk0 wrote: »

My father used to cook porridge overnight in a double boiler for some reason. Anyone know why? Seems rather a waste of energy to me, but it was lovely. It was such a faff though, we only had porridge on Sunday mornings.

My nan used to do the same. I think the slower cooking with indirect heat was supposed to make it smoother and taste better. When cooking directly on the heat it can 'catch' on the bottom (I guess) resulting in slightly toasted oats and potentially lumps.

I just drowned it in sugar and ate it as quickly as possible