The Rest Of The Froggy

Q: What is hanger steak? What part of the steer does it come from and how does it differ from other commonly known steaks ... London broil/flank, skirt, porterhouse steaks, etc.? I never heard of the term until the past year or so. --Cathy

A: Hanger steak is indeed an odd cut. As you know, what we eat as meat is used as muscle when the steer is still among the living. In this case, the steak in question is the muscle that squeezes secretions out of the pancreas.

I see you're looking a little green, there. Have no fear, it doesn't have the FLAVOR of those secretions. In fact, trimmed properly with the membranes removed, it's a truly excellent cut of steak. It's often called "butcher's steak," because often the butcher would simply take it home as his dinner portion, since there's only one per animal.

Flank or skirt steak can be substituted, but they'll be less tender.

Q: What the heck is cream of tartar made of? Nobody knows. --Nancy Wagner

A: You're not completely correct there, Nancy. SOMEone knew, but they weren't telling. It took me a week of covert ops, interrogations, bribes and threats of fallen soufflés to make someone talk, but I finally came up with your answer. There are no lengths to which I won't go for my readers!

Smart mouthing aside, cream of tartar is a potassium-based powder derived from a crystalline acid deposited on the inside of wine barrels. Your guess is just as good as mine as to how someone discovered its many uses. I'm out of bribe cookies.

Q: What or how does one freeze Walla Walla sweet onions for use later on in the year? --Margie Youckton

A: If you want the crisp, crunchy onions you're enjoying now, you're going to have to invent a time machine, because while onions can easily be frozen for use later, they won't retain their texture. They will become somewhat mushy. The flavor will still be there, though.

To freeze whole onions, peel them and blanch for about 5 minutes for medium onions, then plunge the bulbs into an ice bath to cool quickly. Drain thoroughly and freeze in freezer bags.

For chopped onions: chop raw onions and pack tightly in measuring vessel of your choice. I like ½ c. muffin tins. When they are frozen solid, store in freezer bags. You'll have handy frozen, chopped onions to flavor soups and other dishes.

By either method, the onions will keep up to three months.

Q: My question for you is this: When wrapping food with foil for baking such as potatoes, or covering dishes such as casseroles, does it make any difference at all which side of the foil is facing out? My husband says there's no difference. Tell me he's wrong so I can be right for a change! --Linda McDade

A: Any police officer can tell you that domestic disputes are the messiest, most dangerous things to get in the middle of. However, since I'm hundreds of miles away, safely behind my monitor with a fierce housecat prepared to defend me, I'll just wade right in here.

Now, Linda, I really, really hate to do this. I honestly do. Nothing would make me happier than for husbands to lose every argument, and be wrong on every statement of fact. Honestly.

Dang my traitorous research sources, though, I just can't cover it up: your husband is right on this one. According to both the Reynolds Consumer Products folks and Dr. Robert Wolke, author of "What Einstein Told His Cook," there is no difference whatsoever between the sides of the foil. The shiny and dull sides are formed in the milling process, in which two sheets are made at once. Where the foil touches the polished rollers, it's shiny. Where the sheets touch each other, it's dull.

Once again, my profoundest apologies.

Q: A recipe for angel food cake that I read recently indicated that you shouldn't beat the egg whites in a plastic bowl or use plastic implements when folding in the flour. Why? --Gabrielle Donald

A: The sworn enemy of all meringues, and egg foams of any kind, is fat. Even one drop of egg yolk in an egg foam will cause it to deflate, leading to something completely unlike angel food cake.

Plastic and fats share certain chemical similarities, and thus once a plastic bowl or utensil has come in contact with fat, it's just never, no matter how much you wash it, completely safe to beat egg whites in. You may get lucky ... you may cook 50 angel food cakes or lemon meringue pies and never have a problem, and the the 51st, the one you're cooking for your boss/in-laws/new neighbors will succumb to the hidden fat molecules. It's just not worth the risk.

Q: I am a single woman living on my own, and sometimes it's hard to cook just for one. It's even worse when you look at all of the wonderful cookbooks available and then realize that all of those delicious recipes only serve at least four. I've never been a big fan of leftovers and I don't have a lot of kitchen space in my apartment, so I'm asking if you know the best way to scale down those family-sized recipes into something more suited to a single appetite.

Q: Ah! A chance to show off the work of some of our incredibly able programmers. If you'll look on the main page of the Food section, you'll see a "Food Tools" heading. Under that, the Recipe Conversion Calculator is the creature you're looking for. I'd also invite you to check out the new Menu Maker tool. It's a wealth of information on the nutritional breakdown of thousands of different foods! You can even put together a meal menu and then look at its total nutritional content.

Q: Can one substitute butter for shortening? If yes what is the conversion measurement? --S. Silverman

A: Butter can be substituted for shortening at a ratio on one cup of shortening to one cup plus two tablespoons of butter. Cookies will come out slightly less crunchy and bread crusts will be crispier. Cholesterol and saturated fat content will also be higher.

Q: I see frog legs on menus all the time, can't the rest of the frog be eaten? --Anonymous

A: You know, I really should have seen this coming. It's a perfectly understandable question, one that even inspired a famous T-shirt back in the heyday of National Lampoon.

You may be surprised to know that, in Filipino, Italian and several other cuisines, frogs (skinned and well-cleaned) are eaten. I even came across a recipe for stuffed frogs, which called for the amphibians to be stuffed with a variety of ingredients (including pork) and hung on a clothesline to dry. I'm not sure I'd recommend that one.

That said, I would NOT, under any circumstances, recommend that you head out to your local swamp or drainage ditch and round up a few meaty hoppers for dinner. Frogs eat just about everything, and they don't live in the cleanest conditions. If you can find a seafood shop or meat market that sells cleaned frogs, then just go right ahead and explore. I'd recommend trying them fried first before you get too exotic.

And what do you answer after that one? Nothing. I'm going to go and NOT think about eating frogs for a while See you all next week!

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