Want better potato pancakes? Try tasteless grapeseed or avocado oil
Chef Michael Solomonov and writers Susan Barocas and Joy Wilson recently joined the Post Food staff to answer questions about all things edible. Here are edited excerpts from that chat.
Q: Which oil is better for frying potato pancakes, canola or grapeseed?
Susan Barocas: Because I’m not a fan of canola oil, I don’t use it. For frying I like grapeseed or avocado oil, which leaves no taste. It also seems the results are less greasy.
Q: I’ve asked for new knives for Christmas, but my mom is hesitant to get them for me because she says the weight and size are subjective. I’ve been using the same knives for 20 years and would frankly be delighted by anything sharp. I also have cooked in a lot of people’s kitchens and never ran across one that wasn’t just fine. Is it really necessary for me to go to a shop and try them all out?
Tim Carman: This is a tough question. Knives are personal; my favorite may not be your favorite. Here are some things to think about:
•Knife weight: Do you want one that feels heavy in your hand or light? Or something in between?
•Knife blade: Do you want a one-sided, Japanese-style blade that’s designed for more specific tasks, like sushi cutting? Do you want a two-sided Western-style knife? Some Japanese knives also have a flat blade, which makes it very hard to perform the rocking motion used in cutting many vegetables. You might want one of the Westernstyle curved blades.
•Metal hardness: Some metals are soft, some are hard. The harder ones keep their edge better, but can be more expensive. Softer metals need to be honed and sharpened on a regular basis.
•Knife style: Don’t sell this short. You want knives that are attractive. You will have them for a long time and use them, I hope, on a regular basis. You want a knife that you feel proud to pull out of the block.
Joe Yonan: Also, don’t think you need a whole set of knives. A chef’s knife and a paring knife will be enough for almost everything you do. If you eat a lot of crusty bread, get a bread knife. But resist the set: Better to spend more money apiece on two excellent knives than get knives that will stay in the block.
Q: I bought a package of beef neck bones last night at the store but I’m stumped as to what to do with them. Do I use them for stock? Use them in soup or a stew?
Bonnie S. Benwick: I have 10 pounds of them in my refrigerator right now, headed for pho. Check out Andrea Nguyen’s new “Pho Cookbook,” and get out your pressure cooker!
Q: We buy our butter (salted) from a warehouse club, four pounds at a time, and stick it in the freezer until needed. Does freezing and then thawing the butter affect the quality of cookies? My chocolate chips cookies (Toll House recipe) come out flat, sometimes like a crepe. I thought perhaps the freezing process caused the water in the butter to form ice crystals that would not reemulsify with the fat when thawed. On the other hand, I also noticed your tip about not over creaming the butter and sugar. Maybe that has something to do with it.
Joy Wilson: There are a few things going on here. When you freeze butter for over a month, some of the water in the butter will begin to evaporate. You know how sometimes you’ll think you have ice cubes in the freezer and when you reach for the old ice cube tray the frozen cubes will be at half their level in the tray? A similar thing happens to your butter in the freezer. You may even notice that the paper is a little slack around the butter when you take it out of the freezer to use it. For that reason, I wouldn’t freeze my butter for longer than a month.
Now your cookie question! I find that the Toll House recipe needs an extra ¼ to ⅓ cup allpurpose flour. It’s also essential to chill the dough before baking it — typically an hour in the refrigerator will do, though overnight works, too. I think this will help the cookies keep from overly flattening in the oven.
Q: Am I missing out on something if I always substitute milk and vinegar for buttermilk in my baking? I get really great whole milk from a farm and all the buttermilk I can find in stores has additives that I try to avoid.
Wilson: There is something to be said for the viscosity of buttermilk. Have you noticed that it has a texture somewhere between milk and yogurt? I would allow the milk and vinegar to sit for an hour to help thicken it before using.
Q: I’m really in a rut with my weeknight vegetarian dinners for one. I like making soups and they reheat well, but I want to branch out and make other things. Any recipes you’d suggest? Ideally something that can be eaten more than one night.
Yonan: My favorite, oftrepeated suggestion is to get in the habit of making building blocks of dishes on the weekends: a pot of beans, a pot of grains, pans of roasted vegetables, braised greens, condiments if you’d like to get really adventurous. And then chop them up into salads, stuff them into tacos, add to grain bowls, or turn them into pasta sauces. You can really repurpose them in lots of different combinations. (I give more specific ideas for this in my cookbook, “Eat Your Vegetables.”)
Q: The Federal Donuts Za’atar Fried Chicken recipe looks so good. As an apartment dweller, I’m always wary of frying in the home because it makes the entire place smell for days, plus it’s harder for me to dispose of grease. I’m intrigued by the process laid out in the recipe though, and was wondering how you might adapt it for baking?
Michael Solomonov: I think if you were to oven-roast, or even broil, I wouldn’t batter the chicken as recommended for frying. I would still cure it, then coat it in olive oil, roast it and finish with an obnoxious amount of za’atar and sumac.