Ask Good Food - answers
Put your cookery queries to the panel of experienced chefs and members of the Good Food team. Use the blue search box to check through the question and answer archive.
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On the April the 5th, Katie Donnelly asked:
What is the best way of caramelising orange zest? How to you know when to stop the cooking process so that the syrup doesn't become like toffee? -
Peel the zest off the oranges as thinly as you can so that there is virtually no pith left. Then cut the zest into very fine shreds. For the zest of two large oranges, you will probably need about 225g/8oz granulated sugar (which dissolves quickly) and 375ml/12fl oz water. Dissolve the sugar completely over a low heat, then add your zest (you can also use lemon, lime, or even grapefruit zest). Turn up the heat and boil it for anything between 6 and 10 minutes. You will know when it's ready because the zest will look glossy and transparent. Cool down the pan quickly by sitting it carefully in a roasting pan of cold water. When you have hooked the zest out, add orange juice to the syrup and cook it until it goes a bit darker. When it has gone cold, you can pour it over oranges, topped with the caramelised zest, or use it as a sauce for ice cream. It will have taken on the flavour of the zest.
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On the 15th of July, 2007, Joan Fordyce asked:
I am growing chillies in my greenhouse for the first time. They are doing well... too well! I think I am going to have a big crop. How can I dry, or preserve them when I can't use them all at once? -
The best - and most attractive - way to store chillies is to tie them together by their stems on string and hanging them in a dry area. Then you can just pull a chilli off the string when and as you need them. Alternatively you can stick them into a jar of vinegar, or, if you intend to use them chopped and not whole, chop them up and freeze them.
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On the 5th of April 2006, Helen Loftkin asked:
I have a recipe for a cinnamon-based pastry, made with equal quantities of sugar and butter, and moistened with five egg yolks. It's very crumbly and difficult to roll out, but if I add water, the texture becomes like granite. Any suggestions? -
Like you, I am always up for a new pastry idea, but without knowing the exact recipe I can't judge exactly what is wrong. I hope, however, I can give you some pointers towards correcting what may well be a duff recipe. The basic formula for pastry is two parts flour to one part butter to enough water so that it binds into a roll-out-able consistency. You can swap part of the flour, butter and water for similar ingredients - but the basic formula doesn't change. Five egg yolks sounds a lot - try adding them one by one, and stop when the pastry binds together. When it comes to getting your pastry into the tin, I can suggest several strategies: when you roll out the pastry and try to get it into the tin, does it collapse into crumbly bits? If so, either press it into the tin, or freeze the pastry, then grate it from frozen into the tin and press in. If you can handle the pastry, but it is still a bit crumbly, try this to get it into the tin. Instead of rolling the pastry over the pin then unrolling it into the tin in the usual way, fold the pastry in half across the centre, then in half crossways. Locate the point in the centre of your tin, then gently unfold the pastry quarters - this often saves the day for me.
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