Ouch, I've been there. Cold plain yogurt or milk will take the initial sting away, then rinsing with a mild solution of hydrogen peroxide and water works for me. And totally concurring with Josdean about capcasin and, er "special areas." Learned that one the 'hard' way, too.
My Mother-in-Law, who is usually a fantastic cook, made a dish called 'goop' for my husband and his siblings when they were growing up. Goop consisted of a can of oil packed tuna stirred into a can of mushroom soup, then poured over leftover mashed potatoes. I can't even think about it without gagging, but my husband loved it when he was little.
1) Buy good rice. I like Tsuru Mai (easily found in grocery stores in the Northwest, but not sure about availability in other parts of the country). 2) follow directions on the bag, but use just slightly less water, or slightly more rice. 3) DON'T lift the lid until the rice is done, according to the directions. 4) let the rice sit with the heat off and the lid on for about 10 minutes before fluffing with a fork. 5) Glass lids are great for checking the water level without disturbing the cooking process.
This is a paradox; yes it does taste soapy, but I still like it! I guess to my palate, it comes across as a very 'clean' flavor and balances the intensity of Mexican and Thai cuisine.
Jalapeno isn't even hot to me or my hands at this point. I agree that the best thing I've found is soaking in milk. I've tried the oil thing too and it works pretty well.
For those who aren't used to chiles or capsaicin, use gloves when working with them. At this point, after being a chile-head for over 10 years, I only use gloves when working with Jolokia or Chocolate Habs. Otherwise I am really careful and I cut vertically, then I peel it open and cut out the seeds and ribs. Sometimes I use a grapefruit spoon to remove the seeds and ribs without really touching anything in the middle of a pod. I also use gloves when I'm cutting multiple chiles in one session. Otherwise I just use my hands, sans gloves.
Sara Moulton once recommended washing hands with a tomato. Worked for me
@Jerzee: You are reading my mind. I wanted to start a thread just like this...My co-workers and I had this conversation last week. Bunch of laughs during that conversation since they know how picky I am.
My mom was a wonderful cook. Very lucky to have her for guidance whenever I have a question. Anyway, there are just two occassions I can think of where meals went wrong. Once (and it was only once) my mom put mysteriousness on the table. I asked what it was-she stated Chicken Nuggets. I grabbed a couple and put one in my mouth. Promptly, it came right out. It was awful. She laughed while saying they were, in fact, brussel sprouts. How awful. She breaded and baked them (which is what she would do with chicken at times). No good.
There was one dinner I hated. Seriously. I couldn't handle it. It was called "Chicken Snack" and my dad would request it. I wanted to die when I knew it was coming...Buttered toast on the bottom, with a mix of chicken cut up, gravy, and the white part of a hard boiled egg. With the side of green beans. I want to yack thinking about it. I didn't/don't like gravy and who likes soggy bread? I hated it. That night I went to bed early and hungry because I couldn't eat it. The green beans I would eat, but that's about it
My mom, the woman of true comfort food! She taught me how to cook. Luckily she didn't learn anything from my Grandmother. In fact she went to "cooking school" before she got married (missed the last class cause she was on her honeymoon). I have that cookbook from the 1940's. She made the best meatloaf (a recipe I follow to this day) that is awesome. Strange cooking - I thought I invented peanut butter and butter sandwiches. You should have seen my mom's face the day I asked her to make it for me. Mom always asked what we wanted for lunch (back in the day when we went home for lunch during school). I also ate Peanut butter and lettuce sandwiches (I had a weird palette). Peanut butter and bacon was a staple in our house. To this day one of my favorite sandwiches. The weirdest thing I ever took to school for lunch (which was a rare occasion) was cold baked beans. The kids ribbed me all afternoon about it but I loved every morsel. My mom made baked beans from scratch, soaked the beans over night (always on the back porch in her "special" baked bean pot). She used a leftover ham bone and I really don't know what else. Sad to say a recipe I never learned from her. Not much was ever written down just passed on.
Stuff I hated - sausage and peppers. She cooked it to death and the peppers were slimy. Not really a weird preperation my dad loved it. It really wasn't Italian either.
Leftovers were usually really good. Mom could make a meal for 6 out of a whole lot of nothing. Typical question when I got home from school was "What's for dinner?". And the reply was "food". I would ask "what kind of food?". She would say "good food.". All leftovers had a name like Slumgullion or her version of Choy Mein (a can of LaChoy veggies and what ever was leftover) with chinese noodles on top. Then there was always Worchestershire sauce, it went into everything.
She was Irish and Dad Italian but she was taught Italian food from my aunt. Fantastic sauce, lasagna, meatballs, manicotti, and every Tuesday (except in the summer when it was too hot) we had "macaroni" for dinner. Before anyone called it pasta and Mom made gravy (not sauce). Try this one - seriously sear pork chops (boneless or bone in) in the pot with some olive oil, remove and then start your tomato sauce. Add chops and simmer till thickened and pork chops are tender. That's my favorite sauce and meat.
Oh, gotta go and make a shopping list, I want that sauce and pork chops with rigatoni.
I can cook rice with my eyes closed! RINSE, RINSE, RINSE, then RINSE some more!
Water, pinch of salt, rice. Bring to boil. Cover. 20 minutes on low. No peeking. EVER. I don't use a rice cooker. I typically cook about 8 cups (dry) in my ginormous pot for my annual Mardi Gras party.
I love calrose rice. I use it 90% of the time. My method is rinse it, boil the water, throw in tablespoon of olive oil into the water and then throw in the rice. Cook on high for 5 mins (LID ON) then turn off and walk away. Don't touch the lid for 20 mins, then and only then fluff and put the lid back on for 5. I have a rice cooker I use it maybe twice a year. You too can cook rice!!
Make sure you're using the correct size pan...too large and rice will absorb the water before it's done. I learned that the hard way.
Done. Minstrel, your advice for cooking Mahatma rice was dead-on. Perfect bite, nice separation but still a teeny bit glutinous. Yay you. And me. Thanks!
Okay, Minstrel -- game on. I've just followed your instructions for Mahatma, and it just went to low. Does "just below the top of the rice" mean that I could swoosh the back of a spoon over the rice and feeling more resistance than liquid. . .and does it look like deep bubble pockets on top? Thx.
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