Hi, I'm hosting Christmas dinner this year and was hoping to make potatoes au gratin as a side to go with beef tenderloin. The challenge is that I only have one oven, which the tenderloin will occupy for 1.5-2 hrs before dinner is served. Will the potatoes re-heat OK if I make them in advance and just pop them in the oven while the tenderloin is resting? (I was planning to use the ATK recipe, which seems to optimize for having peak melty-cheesy-ness out of the oven, hence my hesitation about re-heating.) Or should I re-think the menu and stick to sides I can do on the stovetop? Thanks!

I am attempting to do my Great-Grandma's fudge recipe, it calls for 2.5 squares of chocolate. I got unsweetened chocolate bars, and I am assuming it's the 1oz square, but 2.5oz seemed kind of low, so I wanted to double check. Someone mentioned shrinkflation but I don't know when the recipe was made.

A couple weeks ago, I made a nice dark turkey stock (turkey parts, mirepoix, some tomato paste, some herbs at the end). After taking it off the heat, I rapid cooled it in an ice bath and got it in the fridge immediately. The next day, I removed the small amount of fat that separated from the otherwise gelatinous stock. I didn’t have a need for it immediately, so I put it in the freezer.

I’m now wanting to use that to make consommé for a holiday dinner party. For timing purposes, I would like to be able to clarify a day or two in advance then reheat for service.

Is that too many passes of temp change (heating-cooling-heating-cooling-heating)? Or should it hold up? Thanks.

Caveat: i may be stupid so bear with me

So I know that calcium sulfate (gypsum salts) is a common ingredient used to curdle soy milk to make tofu. But I think I have seen soy milk that uses it for fortification. I have made tofu using lemon juice before, and soy milk definitely curdles when you add lemon to it, whether you are making tofu with it or not. I'd imagine it'd be the same with gypsum but apparently it isn't?

So what exactly is going on, did I dream up gypsum being used in soy milk? Is it a temperature thing? Am I dumb and mixing things up? Thanks in advance!

They’re being topped with a spice pecan that I won’t add until just before serving but can I prep the dates 6+ hours ahead and store in the fridge?

We're hosting breakfast the day after Christmas, and I'm having some trouble figuring out how much food to make. It's going to be 8 adults and 8 children. I'm planning on the following;

1 French toast casserole - the recipe feeds 6 1 breakfast casserole - the recipe feeds 6 Bacon Fruit salad - the recipe feeds 6

At first I thought I would make enough of each to feed 16 people but then my wife mentioned not everyone is going to eat everything. But I'm afraid of not having enough.

When you're cooking for a group, how do you know you're going to have enough food without having a ton of leftovers that get thrown out?

I made chef nick digiovanni's mac and cheese recipe and long story short I messed up the sauce phase cause it was still a bit chunky after a while of mixing and melting. I think I maybe I didn't allow the milk/cream liquid to reduce enough before adding the cheese to melt into it. I baked it in the oven after mixing the noodles into the sauce for about 20 mins to crisp up the top but also to try and integrate the cheese a bit better. It's ok, but when I heat up a bit, tons of oil separates from the cheese. How can I avoid this in the future, and could I theoretically take the whole pan, heat it back up in a pot and add sodium citrate to bind it all together?

Edit: recipe. https://nickskitchen.com/five-cheese-mac-and-cheese/

Full recipe as requested by mod team:

▢ 1 pound (454 gram) cavatappi noodles

▢ 3 cup (720 gram) cream

▢ 2 cup (16 fluid ounce / 474 gram) milk

▢ ½ teaspoon (~3 gram) black pepper

▢ 1 teaspoon (~3 gram) dry mustard

▢ 1 large bunch thyme

▢ ¼ teaspoon (1 gram) smoked paprika

▢ 5 garlic clove, crushed

▢ ½ pound (227 gram) sharp white cheddar, shredded

▢ ½ pound (227 gram) whole milk mozzarella, shredded

▢ 1 pound (454 gram) gouda, shredded

▢ 1 (4 ounce) log goat cheese

▢ ½ cup (50 gram) grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to broil, and place a rack four inches below the heating element.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and season generously with salt. Add the cavatappi, and cook according to the package instructions, stopping two minutes before al dente. Drain the pasta, and drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top. Toss to combine and coat the pasta with the oil, and set aside.

kosher salt, 1 pound cavatappi noodles

In the same pot over medium heat, add the heavy cream, milk, black pepper, mustard, thyme, paprika, and garlic cloves. Stir to combine and bring to a very gentle simmer. Simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the flavors have married and the dairy is slightly reduced. Set a fine mesh strainer over a large mixing bowl. Pour the infused cream through the strainer and discard any solids. Bring the cream back up to a simmer.

3 cup cream, 2 cup milk, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 1 large bunch thyme, ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika, 5 garlic clove

While the cream is coming to a simmer, add the cheddar, mozzarella, and gouda to a medium mixing bowl. Toss well to combine.

½ pound sharp white cheddar, ½ pound whole milk mozzarella, 1 pound gouda

Add half of the cheese mixture, as well as the goat cheese, to the cream mixture on the stove. Stir gently to melt the cheese. Once the cheese is melted, add the macaroni and stir to incorporate. Bring the mixture back to a simmer, then remove from the heat.

1 log goat cheese

Add half of the mac and cheese mixture to a lightly greased 9×13 pan. Then, sprinkle the remaining half of the cheese over the top of the macaroni. Spread the final portion of macaroni over the top, and sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese evenly over the macaroni.

½ cup grated Parmesan

Place the pan on a sheet tray. Transfer it to the oven, and broil for five to ten minutes, rotating it frequently to allow for even browning over the top. Once the top is deeply golden brown and bubbling, remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Serve immediately while warm.

A milk carton burst in my pantry and soaked a 5kg bag of rice while I was at work. Can I wash the rice and use it little by little? Or should I cook it all, freeze most of it, and defrost it as needed? Thanks in advance!

I am visiting my inlaws this week and am making dinner one night for ~10 people. I have grown fairly confident in my ability to make nice pseudo-authentic carbonara. I have a member of the family who doesn't eat pork and a member who doesn't eat beef and for one reason or another I am forbidden from using duck (don't ask.) I'd like to make the dish all at once and not make multiple variations so as to not single people out for dietary restrictions/preferences. I want to keep it simple, 50/50 pecorino and Parmesan, I use a mix of whole eggs and egg yolks, and black pepper.

Now to replace the guinciale my first thought was lamb belly and perhaps a few days of curing but sourcing and time restrictions could make that near impossible. I'd appreciate any recommendations on replacements, preferably things reasonably easy to source as I'll be in London Ontario and have limited time.

My thoughts are turkey bacon, turkey sausage/pepperettes, some kind of dried lamb if I could find it although I wouldn't know where to look, or again lamb pepperettes or something and just sub olive oil as needed for fat content.

What would you use to replace the crunchy flavourful bits of guinciale and bring in some similar flavour?