"CornStarch" news and stories

When it comes time to pull out the corn starch for thickening, try a more flavorful liquid to mix it with.

Some folks just don't dig eggs. I'm one and I know there are plenty of us out there. I love chicken ( I doubt they love me) but the thought of eating their eggs makes me ill. I have cooked and baked with thousands of eggs because I was being paid. Paging Dr. Freud.

• Try arrowroot. Known for its easily digestible starch, it can be used to replace eggs in small batch recipes (4 or fewer servings). 2 Tablespoons= 1 egg

• Then there is always cornstarch: 2 Tablespoons= 1 egg.

• Potato starch is good, too: again, 2 Tablespoons= 1 egg.

• 1 heaping Tablespoon soy powder= 1 egg

These four substitutes are meant for use in baking. I have had good results using arrowroot and potato starch in German Potato Salad...but I wouldn't push it any further. When it comes to sauces and dressings, lump it or leave it.

If you can handle egg whites, try 1 tablespoon powdered milk and 2 or 3 whites. Add a few drops of yellow food coloring to make it look real. This would be for smaller, personal and experimental recipes like white omelets or glazes. Don't bother with meringues. If you have to make a pound cake or hollandaise, well, you probably don't have an egg issue. So crack 'em up and enjoy.

Source

Chocolate bars designed to stand up to hot climates are nothing new. There's actually a Wikipedia page about the U.S. Military's attempts to create heat resistant sweets. However, Nigerian food scientists have apparently made some progress in creating non-melting chocolate, according to a recent LiveScience article. Cornstarch is apparently what keeps this new blend from melting. This new chocolate is also supposed to be a lot more pleasing to the palate than other earlier attempts, some of which tasted "little better than a boiled potato."

One of the other recent attempts at heat-resistant chocolate was the Desert Bar that was distributed to U.S. troops during Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. From what I've read, these bars were never released commercially, but I swear I remember Hershey selling some sort of non-melting chocolate bar in the 80s or 90s. Anybody else?

[Via Whitley Strieber's Unknown Country]