Categories
eggs

How to Boil an Egg

Everybody knows how to boil and egg, right? Not so fast. If you boil your eggs any other way than this, you will have difficulties peeling the little buggers. Here is the best way to boil and egg so that they’re easy to peel.

First, put enough water in the pan to cover the eggs completely.

Next, take the eggs out of the water and put the pan with water in it on the stove. Turn the flame up to high.

When the water is boiling really good, use tongs or a big ladle to put the eggs in the boiling water.

Set the timer for 11 minutes and walk away.

When time is up, drain the eggs and cover with cold water. Drain again and peel. Slipping a spoon under the shell will help you get a good handle on the shell to make it easier to peel.

Lastly, season with salt, pepper and butter.

Enjoy!

Categories
basic ingredients

Baking Powder

Baking powder is not a hot topic until you don’t have any. It is used to add loft to baked goods. It is used in biscuits, pancakes, cookies, quick breads and more. What do you do when you run out of baking powder.

Try making your own:
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Sift this together and measure your homemade baking powder same as you would regular baking powder. Make a bigger batch by simply increasing the amounts in a 2:1 ratio as above.

If you like, make a larger batch and store in an airtight container. Be sure to add some cornstarch to keep it fresh. Here is a basic recipe for baking powder that will keep on your shelf:
½ cup baking soda
1 cup cream of tartar
½ cup cornstarch

This will make 2 cups.

On the off chance that you do not have cornstarch and weirdly have arrowroot on your kitchen shelf, you can sub arrowroot for cornstarch one for one.

Substitutes

I am not just wondering who has arrowroot sitting in the cabinet but who has a whole cup of cream of tartar on the shelf. I do have some cream of tartar but I’ve had it for like 20 years. So, what do you do when you don’t have all the ingredients to make your own?

Try one of these subs:

1) 1/2 cup buttermilk + 1/4 tsp baking soda  =  for 1 tsp baking powder. Decrease the other liquids in your recipe to maintain the desired consistency.
2) 1/2 cup plain yogurt + 1/4 tsp baking soda t= 1 tsp baking powder. Decrease the other liquids in your recipe to maintain the desired consistency.
3) 1/4 cup molasses +1/4 tsp baking soda = 1 tsp baking powder. Decrease the other liquids in your recipe to maintain the desired consistency but also reduce sugar in your recipe.
4) 1/2 cup sour milk + 1/4 tsp baking soda. Decrease the other liquid in the recipe to maintain consistency and texture.
5) 1/2 tsp vinegar + 1/4 tsp baking soda = 1 tsp baking powder
6) 1/2 tsp lemon juice + 1/4 tsp baking soda = 1 tsp baking powder

Buttermilk, yogurt, molasses, sour milk, vinegar and lemon juice are all acidic and will work with baking soda to add loft to your recipe. If you use sub #6, go easy on the lemon because it does have a strong flavor that can effect your finished product.

Single-Acting vs. Double-Acting

These subs will give you a single-acting baking powder effect. In other words, the reaction of the acid with the baking soda will create gas bubbles in your baked goods and your baked goods will rise.

But, if you read your can of baking powder, it likely indicates the store bought baking powder is double-acting. It includes monocalcium phosphate or sodium aluminum sulfate. These to ingredients add a metallic taste to your baked goods but they react to heat and add a second lift. If using your homemade baking powder or any of the above substitutes, get your pan in the oven quickly since you can only rely on the single action.

Categories
sauce

Bechamel Sauce

I never heard this sauce called Bechamel Sauce until I began looking at Julia Child’s cookbooks. We used to call it white sauce. The most common way I saw it used in our home was in the making of S.O.S., a cheap and easy way to make a meal. Basically, it was Bechamel Sauce with chopped, dried beef stirred in and served on toast. In WWII, this dish earned the name “Shit on a Shingle” and became known as S.O.S. to many soldiers. Only later when I really began cooking on my own did I realize that gravy was made in a similar manner as white sauce.

The basics are this:

Butter or some form of fat like bacon grease, heated in a pan to be a liquid. Add equal amount of flour and stir until incorporated but careful not to burn. Remove pan from heat and add milk or broth. Return to fire and keep stirring until the sauce thickens. Ta Daa! gravy or…..white sauce.

If you know how to make white sauce or Bechamel, you can make gravy and a whole bunch of other sauces. By far, my fav use of Bechamel is sausage gravy. Just cook 1/2 lb of breakfast sausage and then remove from pan. Scrape all those little bits of sausage in the bottom of the pan and proceed to make your Bechamel using the recipe below. When nice and thick, add the sausage back and heat through. Serve it on top of homemade biscuits. Sooo good.

Take a look at the other things you can make:

Bechamel Sauce

Gma
Bechamel or White Sauce is a basic sauce every cook learns to make. If you know how to make Bechamel Sauce, you can use the same technique to make a number of other sauces. See options below.
Print Recipe
Course sauce
Cuisine American, French

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • Salt to taste
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Over low to medium low heat, stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste is heated through and bubbles a bit. Make sure there are no lumps of flour but don't let it brown — about 2 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and add the milk, continuing to stir. Return to heat. Continue to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring it to a simmer.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from the heat.
  • To cool this sauce for later use, cover it with wax paper or pour a film of milk over it to prevent a skin from forming.

Notes

Some people use a whisk to make this sauce but I have always used a wooden spoon. Your choice.
Just for fun, add a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg to your Bechamel Sauce. 
Alternative Sauces: 
  • Cheese Sauce: Make Bechamel sauce. Stir in 1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese or grated Parmesan cheese during the last 2 minutes of cooking, along with a pinch of cayenne pepper.
  • Mornay Sauce: Make Bechamel sauce. Stir in 1/2 cup shredded Gruyère cheese during the last 2 minutes of cooking.
  • Soubise Sauce: Mince 1/4 cup of onion and saute in 1-2 T butter. When tender, pureé and add to Bechamel sauce. Simmer sauce for about 2 minutes to meld the flavors.
  • Aurora Sauce: Make the Bechamel sauce and add 1/2 cup tomato paste and 1 bay leaf. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove bay leaf.
  • Chivry Sauce: Make Bechamel sauce and add 1/2 cup white wine, 2 T butter and 2-3 T fresh herbs (chervil, chives, parsely, tarragon, basil-1 kind of herb or any mix of these herbs), finely minced. Simmer for 2 minutes.
Keyword bechamel, white sauce
Categories
cake dessert

Making Better Cakes

Grandma B swore by Duncan Hines cake mixes. All you have to do is try one cake from another brand to realize she was right. Whenever I can, I buy Duncan Hines. When I can’t, I follow the advice from Gillie Houston. Here is her article on how to enrich and improve a boxed cake mix.

11 Ways to Make Boxed Cakes Taste Homemade

By Gillie Houston Updated May 10, 2019

There’s no shame in reaching for the box mix—but here’s how to make it taste like you didn’t. In this article by Gillie Houston, May 10, 2019, she tells you how to do it.

In an ideal world, we’d all be able to effortlessly whip up beautiful cakes from scratch any time a birthday, office celebration, or bake sale came calling. In reality, most of us don’t have that kind of time on our hands. Luckily, there’s no shame in relying on a boxed cake mix when time is limited and a fresh-from-the-oven cake is needed ASAP.

However, using a pre-portioned cake mix shouldn’t mean settling for sub-par flavor or texture. By substituting a few key ingredients and customizing your recipe ever so slightly, you can instantly turn that $3 cake mix into a deceptively fancy, bakery-worthy creation. These simple tips will allow you to have your (boxed) cake and eat it too.

Ditch the Water
Although the majority of boxed mix instructions rely on water as the primary wet ingredient, this will do absolutely nothing flavor-wise for your baked good. Next time, skip the water altogether and use whole milk instead. This will instantly improve the flavor of your cake at a minimal extra cost. You can also opt to use alternative milks, like almond or oat, or to go big on the flavor by using buttermilk instead.

Butter is Better
Cake mix instructions also miss the mark when it comes to the fat source. Skip the vegetable oil called for on the box and substitute in an equal amount of melted butter. This will give your cake a richer taste instantly, in comparison to the virtually flavorless oil.

Up Your Eggs
Eggs enhance both flavor and texture in a cake, so an easy way to upgrade both is to increase your egg count. If the box calls for two eggs, use three or four instead. You can also opt to add only additional yolks, which will make for a richer flavor, or only additional whites, which will make for a lighter,
fluffier texture.

Swap in Coffee
Substitute the water called for on the cake box with strong, freshly brewed coffee. This trick works best for chocolate cakes, as it won’t change the color of the cake but will help to emphasize the rich cocoa flavors. Other non-traditional liquids that will add interesting flavors and textures to your cake include soda, stout beer, and even orange juice.

Increase Your Vanilla
When it comes to white mix, yellow mix, and just about any other variety, the vanilla flavor tends to leave much to be desired. Amp up the flavor of your boxed cake by adding 1/2-1 teaspoon of good vanilla extract. Another easy way to increase the flavor instantly is to add a pinch of salt to any kind of cake, which will help to balance the sweetness.

Add Some Sour Cream
Adding 1/2 cup sour cream to your cake mix will give it a richer taste and add moistness to the cake in one easy step. Don’t worry, the sour flavor will disappear into the cake entirely. For a similar effect, add an equal amount of full-fat plain yogurt.

Break Out the Instant Pudding
To immediately increase both the flavor and moisture of a cake, add a small box of instant pudding mix. Simply combine the pudding mix with your dry cake mix before bringing in your wet ingredients. Try adding chocolate pudding mix to chocolate cake, vanilla pudding to just about any kind of cake, or lemon pudding to add a hint of citrus to your baked good.

Try Some Mayonnaise 
While some might balk at the idea of adding this creamy condiment to a cake, a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise will give your cake a richer taste and smoother texture. This condiment, which is comprised of egg yolk and oil, won’t mess up the chemistry of your batter, but will make it taste amazing.

Customize Your Cake 
Just because you’re using a boxed mix doesn’t mean that your cake has to be run-of-the-mill. Turn a plain chocolate or yellow cake mix into a customized creation by adding the dried fruits, nuts, chocolate, and spices of your choice. Other great additions include lemon zest, orange or almond extract, and rum.

Make Your Frosting From Scratch
The most effective way to make your boxed cake taste like it is 100% homemade is to ditch the canned frosting and make your own. Even if you make no other adjustments to the cake mix ingredients, this step will have your dinner guests fooled. Try these easy recipes for Vanilla (or Chocolate) Buttercream Frosting, Mascarpone Frosting, or Cream Cheese Frosting, which will work with just about any flavor of boxed mix.

Get Creative with the Layers
Although this step will require some extra time and effort, the effect will be well worth it. After your boxed cake is cooled, slice it into two or three layers and get creative with your fillings and layers. It’s always a good idea to brush your layers with simple syrup to give them some added moisture and sweetness, but you can also rely on other coatings like sweet liqueur and jam to have a similar effect. Pile your layers with sliced fruit, ganache, lemon curd, icing, etc. and top it all off with your homemade frosting.

Categories
leftovers soup turkey

Leftovers

I really dislike leftovers. It is a good thing Gpa will eat anything because he usually gets yesterday’s leftovers for lunch.

There are times, however, when you cannot help but have leftovers. And there are other times when it is smart to plan for leftoveres.

For instance, when I make meat loaf. After I have all of the meatloaf mixed and ready for the pan, I whack off about a half pound of raw meatloaf and make meatballs out of it. Then we can meat loaf tonight, spaghetti and meatballs tomorrow. If there is any cooked meatloaf leftover, we’ll pan fry that for a third meal.

Of course, there is always turkey leftover after you cook it up for Thanksgiving or Christmas. After the initial serving of the traditional meal, we often just graze the next day without worrying much about a formal meal. After that, we get serious. I like to take the turkey carcass and put it in a huge pot with water and cook until the remaining meat falls off the bone. When it is cool, I pick the meat off, toss the bone and season my stock. From there, it is turkey and dumplings, turkey and rice soup or turkey noodle soup. If I have a lot of turkey leftover, I like turkey a la king, turkey enchiladas and even turkey mac. Any way you can think of to cook chicken, you can sub with turkey.

And just when you are ready for a turkey sandwich, you will discover all the turkey is gone.

Categories
ingredients

Stone Ground Cornmeal

For years, the only corn meal available to me was your basic cornmeal. We were always quite happy with it only because we did not know better. Over the years, I have moved from the mass marketed, 5-lb bag of processed cornmeal that was flour-like to using stone ground cornmeal whenever possible. The difference is in both taste and texture.

The taste of stone ground cornmeal is more alive, more corn, more intensity of flavor.

The texture is rougher, less flour-like and more distinctively granular. This change in texture changes the flavor, too, adding to the intensity of the flavor of corn.

Additionally, cornbread made with stone ground cornmeal allows butter to melt into the bread rather than onto the bread.

Yes, stone ground cornmeal is pricier. It is also sold in small bags. These are minor inconveniences when you consider the difference in taste and texture. Without a doubt, I will never go back to old flour-like cornmeal and will always use stone ground cornmeal.