What's Cooking

Shipping Cookies

-- Use tougher items -- peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip, brownies, dense things -- rather than sugar cookies or other delicate recipes that break easily.

-- Double insulate.  Wrap and use padding inside a container, then nestle the container in more exterior padding.

-- Lakeside.com had nifty aluminum containers with holiday art cardboard covers.  Should be possible to replicate this without misery.

 

About Fish

Wild: Is un-PC -- overfishing and by-catch.
Farmed: Generally OK, except Atlantic salmon and imported shrimp. Opt for wild salmon and American shrimp.
Country of Origin: USA is best.

Grains

Barley: Springy, pasta-like texture and mild, creamy flavor. Sold as a whole grain (hulled,) or pearled, which cooks faster.  high fber, reduce risk of heart disease. Pairs nicely with roasted meats and earthy vegetables like mushrooms and carrots.

Bulgur: A granular texture and nutty flavor. Often sold in coarse and medium-size granules. Good source of potassium, B vitamins iron and calcium. Same protein as brown rice with less fat and more fiber.  Well suited for cinnamon, nuts, dried fruit.

Farro: Delicate nutty flavor, also known as emmer's wheat. Imported from Italy and sold pearled. Rich in fiber, proten, andvitamisn A, B, C and E. used in soups and in place of rice for farroto.

Kasha: Toasted buckwheat, sweet and musky flavor. Really a fruit seed. Protein rich and gluten free, high in fiber and good for blood pressure and cholesterol. Good with cured meats and wild rice.

Quinoa: Mild taste, a complete protein with all nin amino acids. Good for magnesium. Good with red pppers. Delicious served warm or at room temperature.

Wheat berries: sweet taste and chewy. complex carbohydrate, high in fiber and good against colon cancer. Enhance chicken and shellfish as well as bacon.

Foil vs. Plastic

Foil: For smelly food, or things you want to reheat in conventional oven. also add a layer of foil around plastic-wrapped food for extra insulation when freezing.  DO NOT USE for acidic items like tomatoes or berries.

Plastic: for acidic and fresh foods, berries, sandwiches, produce. press plastic flush with surfaces to eliminate air. Spped rate of absorption on marinades using the same approach.

How to Brown Butter

Cut butter into pieces.
Heat butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir the butter or swirl the pan so that the butter doesn't burn.
Remove from heat when butter turns light brown and gives off a nutty aroma. It will continue to cook a little even after it has been removed from the heat, so take that into account.

All About Baking

Honey: The flavor and color depends on flowers bees visited. Most is made from clover, and makes a soft cakelike cookie darker than plain sugar with a honey flavor. Other flavors are lavender, orange blossom, or buckwheat, which is an even darker cookie with a more intense honey flavor. Store it for up to one year. If it crystallizes, place in warm water and stir until it dissolves.

Corn Syrup: Dark is good for baking because it makes a nice rich color and flavor. Light and brown sugar are good for using in decorating later – it doesn’t show up but decorative sugars stick to it.  It makes for a soft, cakelike cookie. Less sweet than other options.

Molasses: Generally made from juices pressed from sugar cane during refining. Mild is sweeter than the full-flavor. Makes a very dark colored cookie that is soft and cakelike, with a sweeter flavor.

Maple Syrup: made from sap of the sugar maple tree. Pure syrup adds a caramell-ike flavor to cookies and is better than maple-flavor syrup. Makes a soft cookie with crisp edges and has distinctive flavor.

Sucralose: Makes very white cookies that are soft and chewy with crackled top. A mild aftertaste.  Be careful using this for dietetic purposes, however: Divide the number of carbs by the total number of cookies and calorie savings may be negligible. It is also more expensive.

Maple sugar is twice as sweet as granulated sugar. makes a sandy color, crackled top crisp and crumbly cookie with maple flavor.

Granulated sugar: The sugar usually used by bakers.  Not to be confused with powdered sugar, which is pulverized and often combined with cornstarch to keep it from caking. Creamy white color crip and crumbly crackled top with mild, sweet flavor.  Superfine sugar makes a cookie with firm edges and chewy center. It dissolves more easily than regular sugar and makes dough more crumbly. Keep working the dough until shapes nicely.

Brown sugar is a mix of sugar and molasses. To soften it, microwave a ½ of water in a 1-cup container to boiling, then nuke sugar alongside water. A pound takes 2-3 minutes. Light brown sugar makes a light brown cookie with a crisp chewy texture and crackled top with mild molasses-like flavor. Dark brown makes a darker cookie with a more intense molasses flavor.

LEAVENING
Cream of tartar is the powdery white substance derived from the sediment in wine barrels. It is also used to produce a creamier texture in sugary desserts such as candy and frosting and prevent them from crystallizing, it stabilizes and gives more volume to beaten egg whites and it can even remove stains from aluminum pans. (Fill pan with water and 2 tablespoons cream of tartar per quart. Boil gently for 15 minutes. Let cool in pan. Scour, then wash. In baking, it is the trigger that activates the baking powder.
Baking soda and/or baking powder are added to batters for leavening; i.e., in order to produce the gas that make cakes, muffins, and quick breads rise. Which ingredient is used depends on the other ingredients in the recipe. The ultimate goal is to produce a tasty product with a pleasing texture. Baking soda is basic and will yield a bitter taste unless countered by the acidity of another ingredient, such as buttermilk. You'll find baking soda in cookie recipes. Baking powder contains both an acid and a base and has an overall neutral effect in terms of taste. Recipes that call for baking powder often call for other neutral-tasting ingredients, such as milk. Baking powder is a common ingredient in cakes and biscuits.

Baking soda + liquid acid (in the recipe) = leavening. When baking soda is combined with moisture and an acidic ingredient (e.g., yogurt, chocolate, buttermilk, honey), the resulting chemical reaction produces bubbles of carbon dioxide that expand under oven temperatures, causing baked goods to rise. The reaction begins immediately upon mixing the ingredients, so you need to bake recipes which call for baking soda immediately, or else they will fall flat!

Single-acting baking powder = baking soda + a dry acid. When the liquid ingredients are mixed with the dry ingredients you get leavening --OR-- when the product is heated you get leavening.

Double-acting baking powder = baking soda + 2 dry acids. When the liquid is added you get leavening, then you get more when the product is heated.

Spice Shui

Cinnamon invigorates and encourages benevolence
Peppermint revives and energizes
Vanilla relaxes, soothes, uplifts
Coffee welcomes, stimulates, warms, satisfies
Lavender reduces stress, relaxes
Nuts nourish
Molasses relaxes, comforts
Chocolate elevates well-being and euphoria
Cloves stimulate mind and memory, help overcome exhaustion.

Tips for Corn on the Cob

To clean corn on the cob, try using a toothbrush to get the silk off.

To butter corn on the cob, butter a slice of bread and use that to rub over the corn.

Chile Oil

Remove stems and seeds from fresh chiles and toast for 10 minutes on a dry baking sheet at 400 degrees. Use a mortar and pestle to grind chile into flakes. Combine the flakes with olive oil (2 parts flakes to 3 parts oil)  and bring almost to a simmer in a heavy saucepan.  Cool overnight. Strain to remove as many flakes as desired.

For decorative touch, add a few toasted whole chiles to the oil before capping the bottle.

Include storing instrux on the gift tag: Must be stored in refrigerator, or else used for decoration only and not consumed. Also should be discarded after 1 month.
For more flavor with no heat: Ancho or New Mexico chile.

Simple Syrup

Simply: Simmer 1.5 c sugar to 2 c water in saucepan without stirring until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens, about 5 min.