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A simple dinner. (Original Post) Dunc Saturday OP
Sounds delic, Dunc! SheltieLover Saturday #1
Have you ever tried browning the butter? SheltieLover Saturday #2
Never tried them that way. Dunc Saturday #3
I discovered it quite by accident SheltieLover Saturday #4
Good stuff. Morbius Yesterday #5
I never thought of that. Dunc Yesterday #6
This sounds really good heme 20 hrs ago #7
Same (about waiting for water to boil, that is) JHB 18 hrs ago #16
I learned how to make a brown butter sauce for pasta by accident irisblue 20 hrs ago #8
Brown butter? heme 20 hrs ago #9
Slightly carmelized butter, low & slow cooking w/you watching the.pan irisblue 19 hrs ago #11
Ok ty, heme 19 hrs ago #12
It Adds A Great Flavor, But... ProfessorGAC 18 hrs ago #14
And boy, do we love you for it. JHB 18 hrs ago #17
I'm sorry, I'm new here heme 20 hrs ago #10
Welcome to DU, nice to meet you. We are for ALL levels of cooking irisblue 19 hrs ago #13
Oh, I feel ya on that one JHB 18 hrs ago #18
There's nothing wrong with ... surrealAmerican 18 hrs ago #15

SheltieLover

(82,140 posts)
2. Have you ever tried browning the butter?
Sat Jun 6, 2026, 06:12 PM
Saturday

For some reason, if you do so, it tastes a bit like lobster.

Morbius

(1,181 posts)
5. Good stuff.
Sun Jun 7, 2026, 05:57 AM
Yesterday

Myself, I'd add some minced garlic to the butter and some finely chopped fresh parsley at the end if available.

One can make great food with simple fresh ingredients.

heme

(4 posts)
7. This sounds really good
Sun Jun 7, 2026, 03:53 PM
20 hrs ago

I may to try it,, I can cook basics, the one thing I have trouble with, is waiting for water to boil. I'm an impatient soul.
And can I add? I love tuna, I would add some tuna in.

JHB

(38,368 posts)
16. Same (about waiting for water to boil, that is)
Sun Jun 7, 2026, 06:15 PM
18 hrs ago

My solution was to fill up a whistling tea kettle, put it on the burner, and do something else until it started sounding off. Then, pour the water from the kettle to the pot I was using. On the one occasion I needed more than one kettle's worth of water, I just set the pot to simmer, filled up the kettle again, and repeated the process.

irisblue

(38,037 posts)
8. I learned how to make a brown butter sauce for pasta by accident
Sun Jun 7, 2026, 04:09 PM
20 hrs ago

I was sauteing (real stick) butter with minced garlic, low & slow, so no burning & there was a major crash in the living room. The dog & 1 cat ran past me; I left the pan unattened on the burner for maybe 2 minutes, it was nicely browned when I got back.

Now what kind of butter you use? I but kerrygold 2 sticks package maybe once a month, more often if popcorn gets involved.

heme

(4 posts)
9. Brown butter?
Sun Jun 7, 2026, 04:43 PM
20 hrs ago

What's that? What's the difference between what I buy at grocery, which is unsalted butter, what's brown butter? I use unsalted Walmart real butter. It's not brown.

irisblue

(38,037 posts)
11. Slightly carmelized butter, low & slow cooking w/you watching the.pan
Sun Jun 7, 2026, 04:53 PM
19 hrs ago
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/how-to-brown-butter/


What Is Brown Butter?
Brown butter (buerre noisette) is a classic French staple in the kitchen. It’s melted butter with an accelerated flavor brought on by gently cooking it. It’s a one-ingredient wonder, vastly improving any dish or recipe where it’s used. In less than 10 minutes, butter sizzles, foams, and gently cooks into a nutty and caramelized flavored ingredient you can use as a sauce over pasta, meat, or vegetables; or in dessert recipes like brown butter sugar cookies, brown butter apple blondies, and brown butter pound cake.



More there

ProfessorGAC

(77,473 posts)
14. It Adds A Great Flavor, But...
Sun Jun 7, 2026, 06:10 PM
18 hrs ago

Last edited Sun Jun 7, 2026, 07:49 PM - Edit history (1)

...you really need to watch it. It goes from nicely browned to burnt pretty fast.
The browning is different than simple carmelization (which only requires sugars & butter only has a trace amount of sugar as lactose) because it involves the Maillard reaction. That involves the milk protein in the butter.
Once the moisture is gone we have 100% butterfat at quite high temperature so we toast/fry the milk solids, which is mostly a protein called casein.
Just like high heat turns the surface of meat dark brown on the grill, the protein denatures and begins to oxidize.
Changes the flavor profile dramatically.
Sorry to go so tech. I'm DU's friendly neighborhood organic chemist

heme

(4 posts)
10. I'm sorry, I'm new here
Sun Jun 7, 2026, 04:51 PM
20 hrs ago

And at my age, I'm trying to learn how to cook, sorry if I ask too many questions

JHB

(38,368 posts)
18. Oh, I feel ya on that one
Sun Jun 7, 2026, 06:28 PM
18 hrs ago

"OK, I can read what the definition of 'simmer' is, but when I'm there at the stove, what's it supposed to LOOK like?"

Four years ago I made my first from-scratch vegetable soup, and I was like Tom Hanks in "Castaway" crowing "I have made fire!"

That thread:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1157112160

surrealAmerican

(11,933 posts)
15. There's nothing wrong with ...
Sun Jun 7, 2026, 06:11 PM
18 hrs ago

... buttered noodles.

When I was a kid, my mother would frequently make "noodles with pot cheese" - buttered noodles with cottage cheese - for lunch. It's a basic comfort food.

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»Cooking & Baking»A simple dinner.