You can use nearly any kind of pan, but I prefer a springform pan because it guarantees easy removal.
The key to even layers, or strata, is accurately predicting what each layer will do in the oven.
Layers with egg will expand.
Layers with tomatoes (not sun dried), mushrooms, spinach and certain other vegetables will shrink and release water.
Oily layers (pesto) may be partially absorbed by the adjacent strata.
Have fun cooking!

Thank you thank you thank you
I went and bought a small spring form pan (4 x 1 1/4) today, what should I put in the pan first the cream cheese, pesto or sun dried tomato?

Can you suggest an simple receipe?

Hi Allen,
In my initial response to your question about torta, it was unclear what kind of torta you were making. There are many.
Now it occurs to me that you are making something very near and dear to my heart. Then again, I love the other kinds of torta too, but this one coincidentally, I have actually featured in my little rant blog. I will provide you with two recipes.

Mine: http://nakedonion.blogspot.com/2008/03/italian-flag-pesto-dip.html

Epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/SUN-DRIED-TOMATO-AND-PESTO-TORTA-102634

Have fun cooking!

Set the roaster to 350F.
That is a very good common, generic temperature for many, many things, hot enough to cook thoroughly in a timely fashion, but low enough to help prevent burning.
The reason tamales might be cooked upright is to help them cook evenly, but if you do not stack them too high you should lay them in the sauce, and turn them halfway through to help the sauce evenly cover them.
Have fun cooking!

Alej,

1. Always preheat oven before putting food in oven!!! (unless your recipe directs otherwise)
2. When using a convection oven you should either reduce the cooking time by about 25%, reduce the temperature by about 25%, or do a combination by reducing temperature and time by 12% each.
3. If your original conventional recipe baking time is less than 15 minutes,
keep the original baking time but reduce the temperature by 25-30 degrees F.
4. As with any recipe, check the food about 5-10 minutes before the expected
finish time, due to variables such as the temperature of the food when first placed
in the oven, quantity of food in the oven, your preferred level of “doneness”, etc.
5. The more food in the oven at one time, the longer the cooking time.
6. Some folks recommend preheating any oven at 50 degrees F above the desired temperature, then turning the temperature control down to the desired temperature once you put the food in and close the door. This is because an oven can lose one degree per second that the door is open. The average loss is about 50 seconds.
7. The choice of when to use a convection oven and when to use a conventional
oven with radiant heat often depends on the cooking container rather than the food.
The whole point of convection cooking is to have
the fan circulating the heat around the food.
Casserole lids and high-sided cooking pans block the heat from circulating
around the food and prevent the oven from cooking efficiently.

Place the scallops on ice or in ice water. Hot or warm water causes them to “clam up,” while the cold causes them to relax and open slightly.
Pry them open with a small knife or spoon, holding them with the dark “lid” up and the seam facing you. Discard the lid.
Scrape out the dark material inside and discard, leaving the white muscle.
Scrape the white meat off the shell, or leave it there if you plan to cook them on the shell.
Repeat.
Scallops in White Wine Sauce:
(wine has calories, so you could use champagne vinegar instead)
1 pound scallops
1 cup wine
1 tablespoon shallots (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons nonfat sour cream
1 tablespoon flour
Combine the wine and shallots in a saucepan and simmer until the volume of the wine is cut in half. Add the scallops and simmer 5 more minutes, until partially finished cooking, but white and firm. Remove the scallops with a slotted spoon and set aside. Combine the remaining ingredients together and whisk until thoroughly mixed, and add the mixture to the saucepan. Simmer until reduced and slightly thickened, stirring thoroughly and scraping the sides and bottom of the pan, approximately 3 minutes. Spoon over the scallops and serve.

Oh yea, have fun cooking!

Frozen vegetables become mushy because ice crystals form in the cells and cause them to burst. This generally won’t hurt the flavor, but does affect the texture.

Yea. Sometimes I prefer to skip the giblets too. You can use the neck, which has a very different flavor than the giblets, and/or you can use some of the giblets but omit the liver, which has a very distinct flavor, which some people like and some just do not.
You can make great turkey gravy by using the drippings in the bottom of the roasting pan, and following your turkey gravy recipe without any giblets. The flavor will come out lighter and less pungent than with the giblets and/or neck included, which is often a more desirable option considering the numerous other dishes that are usually included with Thanksgiving dinner.
You could also try a different kind of sauce that isn’t turkey gravy, but which goes great on turkey and would be a great accent to your holiday meal.
Please feel free to contact a Chefsline chef for more ideas for your turkey gravy recipe and for your Thanksgiving menu.

Canned pumpkin pie filling is really only regular canned pumpkin with spices and sugar added. That being said, to add the right flavor, I would recommend adding 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and about 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar to replicate the filling called for in the recipe.

The general rule of thumb is that if the recipe calls for more than 1 cup of nuts (altogether) then you should replace with equal parts of dried fruit. However, if the recipe calls for 1 cup or less, than it’s fine to omit the nuts completely.

Yes, you can substitute equal amounts of sunflower seeds if you like, but since seeds are smaller than whole or even chopped nuts, lesser amounts will work just as well.

I’m alergic to nuts and don’t want to use too much salt and have spent quite a lot of time searching on the net but to no avail. I’d like a seed mix recipe that uses herbs to flavour, a little salt’s ok.