Q&A
Q:What is the best meat to use for jerky? Normally we get top round.
A: A few years back, I did a story on Vietnamese-style jerky. I made a couple of versions at home, using cuts such as top round and flank steak. It gives you some chew, an important part of the jerky experience, in my opinion.
— Tim Carman
Q: I love sweet potatoes. I usually do hash with sausage and onions or mashed. My mashed sweets tend to be a little on the bland side. Do you have any suggestions for how to liven them up without adding hot sauce? I’m not a super spicy person and prefer the sweet potatoes to be on the savory side.
A: I love them too! I would suggest roasting them before mashing instead of boiling or steaming so they’ll have a more concentrated flavor to begin with. You can try other strong, savory flavors that aren’t spicy; for example, try some pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika).
— Julia Turshen
Q: Is it possible for dried, ground ginger to go bad? I tried it a while ago and found the flavor uncharacteristically unpleasant. Perhaps it was simply a bad batch?
A: Dried spices can get really dusty, although they don’t spoil in the same way other pantry items can (such as oils going rancid). When you keep them around for a long time, they lose their flavor quite a bit. Try buying dried ginger (or any dried spice) in a very small amount so you’re more likely to use it before it goes bad.
— J.T.
Q: Do you have recommendations for cocktails that use rose water? I bought some last week at a Lebanese market and am dying to try it in a few drinks.
A: My main tip would be to use that stuff delicately — much like orange flower water and vanilla, it packs a massive punch. I’d start by checking out some of the rose water cocktails on kindredcocktails.com. And off the top of my head, I’d think pomegranate juice, gin, mint, lemon would be nice. And I could imagine a pretty beautiful martini with two ounces of dry gin, half an ounce of dry vermouth and half an ounce of blanc vermouth with a drop or two of the rose water.
— M. Carrie Allan
Q: I have a spiralizer and was wondering if sweet potatoes would make good noodles? If so, what kind of sauce would work well with them?
A: Yes! I would eat them with tomato sauce and a salty cheese like pecorino Romano, or you could top with salsa verde and crumble on some cotija.
– J.T.
Q: The Stir-Fried Sweet Potato and Pork looks great, and has my family’s favorite flavor profile, but we don’t do pork. Would this work with ground turkey? Would we just up the seasonings to combat the blandness of the ground turkey?
A: Yes, you could use turkey. And sure, bump up those seasonings if you find it bland. (An extra spoonful of oil might help too.)
– Kara Elder