3000 miles 'til dinner.

snackgirl asked: So, what is a good substitute for Allspice? Or should I just break in and buy some?

A good substitution if you don’t have allspice in your pantry: 2/3 ground nutmeg to 1/3 ground clove. FYI:  Allspice is a fruit, picked green, then dried. After drying, it resembles a large  black peppercorn. Whole allspice can be ground in a spice grinder (or coffee grinder) for the freshest taste , but can also be purchased ground.

snackgirl asked: In the Pecan Tart recipe, you set the tart crust in the oven by covering it in foil and filling the inside with dried rice. My tart turned out awesome, but can you explain what this step does? Do you do this in other recipes?

This process keeps the buttery pastry from “sliding” down when the baking process begins. The high oven temp (400 degrees) helps get the process going quickly, but you still need the rice/legumes to keep the rich pastry in place as it begins to warm and before it “sets”.  You do not need to FILL the shell with rice, simply use enough to provide some weight in the bottom and up along the sides.

Anonymous asked: hey pat, jessica and marites,

nice blog! pat, i almost just emailed you this question, but i suppose i should use this instead...! if a muffin recipe calls for whole wheat pastry flour, but i don't have that and have a ton of whole wheat flour, can i sub the regular flour for the pastry? i know it will be more dense, but is there any trick to mimic the pastry flour's effect?

thanks!
kali

p.s. the blog's in my google reader - i'm following :) !

Hi Kali - Whole wheat pastry flour is made from softer wheat and will bake into a finer “crumb” and lighter muffin. For best results, when you only have whole wheat flour on hand, use 1/2 unbleached white flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour for your recipe.

snackgirl asked: Can you explain, in reeeeeeally simple terms, how to properly use a thermometer? I seem to stick it in and get different readings every time.

#1 -insert the thermometer into the same spot for consistent readings

#2 - do not touch the bone with the thermometer tip (this will not give you a true temp reading)

#3 - poultry:  insert into dark meat/thigh area; breast meat cooks faster and your thigh/leg will be undercooked if you take a reading from the breast.

#4 - meat/roast: remember that if a roast is not uniform in shape/size, the narrower part of the meat will cook faster. Therefore, some of the meat will be rare (thickest part) and some more done. Best to insert the thermometer into the thickest part if you want to be sure and have some rare/medium rare roast.