6 cook this not that Recipes

any liquid can be reduced just by heating it - but why would you want to do that, answer comes back to two of our old friends, flavor and consistency (texture)., by reducing any flavored liquid you intensify its flavor and at the same time thicken it. you can continue this process until what you have left is a syrup if it contains sugar, or a sauce if it does not., this is 1 of the most important tools in the kitchen , believe it or not, because a great sauce can rescue an indifferent meal., literally any liquid can be reduced ., a few uses, wine is frequently used in cooking , both as a marinade and as an addition to sauces for meat., there are some problems with it though, 1 of which is that you need a really good wine and quite a lot of it to produce a reasonable sauce for, say, six people., on the other hand , if you use pure grape juice and reduce it to a syrup, that syrup, added to any sauce (or gravy if you prefer) will lift it into the realms of gourmet ., more , you don tsp have to make your reduction on the night you prepare your meal. you can reduce a liter of grape juice at any time to the consistency and flavor you want; then just store it in the fridge., you can do the same thing with any fruit juice - prune is sensational - and store it until needed. just about all of them will do things for ice cream, pies or tarts that will have your guests demanding the recipe, pork with apple sauce use a carton of fresh apple juice from the supermarket and reduce it. and if you want a real sensation add in a glass of apple brandy during the reduction process., are you getting an idea of how simple this is, take any carton of fresh stock straight of the shelf and reduce it. you will transform it into something even the manufacturer won tsp recognize. but beware, you need to start out with good quality in the first place, because when you reduce a liquid you intensify all the flavors, and not just the good ones., if it s salty to start with, for example, it will be salty beyond belief by the time you ve reduced it even by half. so if you are going to use a supermarket stock, make sure it s an extremely good 1., believe me when i tell you that stock cubes should not be used for reduction sauces., thickeners, because you will be tasting as you go (won tsp you ), you may find that you get the flavor you want before the desired consistency is reached., a couple of hints right now for your sauces., sweet ones can be thickened successfully without loss of color by adding in liquid glucose early on in the reduction process. surprisingly, this will add little in the way of sweetness and produces a beautiful velvety sauce when whisked., if you get it wrong and add too much, no problem. stir in a little extra water to thin it., reduction pans, reductions need to happen rapidly in serving to preserve flavors. and the greater the surface area of the liquid the faster the water will evaporate., however you may want to whisk something into the sauce while its cooking - such as butter or olive oil for example - and for that i find a small wok is best; 1 with a handle., a wok is less likely to reduce so fast that the sauce is burnt while your back is turned. but try both methods and see which you prefer. you may even end up using something totally different., no magic to this. whatever works for you, that s what you should use, in this and everything else to do with cooking., just bear in mind that what you re after is speed and ease of use. as well as a great tasting result, of course. :>), keeping, if they should dry out , simply add a little water and heat through., sauces containing meat juices of any kind must be frozen if you re going to keep them, and should be brought to boiling point before being used again. there is no need to thaw them out to do this, in fact it s better not to. simply drop the frozen cubes into a saucepan, melt them over a gentle heat, and then bring swiftly to the boil., why do you do this to avoid food poisoning, that s why. you are making sure that any bugs introduced into the sauce during the preparation process are killed off., worry , this will not be because of anything you have done wrong (i hope!), but because bacteria are part of our everyday lives and they exist in every kitchen, however clean., in fact your food , and especially your meat, is crawling with wildlife that you will never see. don tsp worry about them. careful handling and simple precautions will ensure that these miniature monsters can never multiply enough to harm either you or your guests.

your favorite diced tomatoes (add another can if feeding more than 4 people), frozen fish such as red snapper , cod, etc. or fresh fish of your choice., water (for four people), yellow or white onion, vegetables, chopped (see below ), chopped fresh parsley or italian flat leaf parsley, tb chopped garlic, season with salt and pepper before serving based on your personal taste., you can add as many or as few chopped vegetables as you like. you can also use more or less fish depending on how thick you like your chowder to be.), this recipe can also be made with leftover fish and leftover vegetables. i do not suggest using leftover fish sticks or any other fried fish unless you remove the breaded topping first. if you do use fish that has been cooked, just add it to the chowder about two minutes before serving to heat it to the temperature of the other ingredients in the pot., if you prefer a mexican flavor , add 1 tsp. cumin and 1/2 tsp oregano with a dash of cayenne pepper (or more for a hotter flavor), if you prefer an italian flavor , add 1/2 tsp of italian seasonings or 1 tsp oregano, vegetables to be added are based on your favorites and what you may or may not have in your pantry at the time. here are some of my favorite additions for your review, diced potatoes , celery, carrots, zucchini, leeks, mushrooms, cabbage, mild chile peppers, red onions, artichoke hearts, and green or red bell peppers. you can add a handful of fresh spinach or 1/4 cup of frozen spinach. you can always add a can of mixed vegetables and of course, you can use frozen vegetables. i do not suggest using broccoli. corn is also a good addition. you can add a can of drained corn, black beans and a few tbsp of salsa for a great mexican fish soup., use canned tomatoes that have additional vegs in them such as mexican-style with chilies and onions, italian-style with peppers or anything other blend you prefer.)

seasonal fish and vegetables are used in tempura. the ingredients for tempura in the recipe below are only a few of the many, many common ingredients that lend themselves to this treatment. shrimp; squid; small whole fish like perch, smelt, and goby; white-fleshed saltwater fish; eggplant; green beans; onion rings; sweet potato slices; bell pepper strips; mushrooms - the list could go on for several pages. chicken, beef and pork, however, are not usually prepared as tempura because of their relatively heavier, identifiable taste. chicken and pork are deep-fried in other ways, and beef is often given a more highlighted preparation, say, in sukiyaki., http://japanesefood.about.com/od/tempura/a/cookingtempura.htm, basic steps for cooking tempura, prepare the ingredients ., make tempura batter ., heat vegetable oil in a deep pan to 340-350f degree., lightly dip ingredients in the batter and immediately fry them until crisp. it takes longer to fry vegetables than to fry seafood., drain tempura on a rack ., serve right away with tentsuyu (tempura dipping sauce) or salt. tempura is best served hot. *grated daikon radish is a common condiment., tempura batter recipe - japanese recipe, http://japanesefood.about.com/od/tempura/r/tempurabatter.htm, egg, ice water, all purpose flour, preparation, beat an egg in a bowl. add ice water in the bowl. be sure to use very cold water., add sifted flour in the bowl and mix lightly. be careful not to overmix the batter., tempura dipping sauce recipe, tempura dipping sauce is called tentsuyu in japanese. serve this sauce with tempura., dashi soup stock, mirin, soy sauce, sugar, preparation, put mirin in a pan and heat. add soy sauce and dashi soup stock in the pan. bring the sauce to a boil., tips for making crispy tempura, by setsuko yoshizuka, tip 1: ice, use ice water for the batter. this is really important to prevent the batter from absorbing too much oil., tip 2: batter (tempura batter recipe), do not make the batter ahead of time. try not to over mix the batter and not to coat ingredients with the batter too much., if you are frying both seafood and vegetables, fry vegetables first. then, fry seafood. fry vegetables at 340f degree and fry seafood at 350f degree., tip 4: oil temperature, check the temperature of frying oil , drop a little batter into the oil. if the batter comes up right away instead of sinking to the bottom of the pan, it s about 360 f degree. if the batter goes halfway to the bottom and comes up, it s about 340f degree. this is said to be the right temperature to fry tempura.

there are dozens of noodles famous in singapore from the street hawkers to upscale restaurants; singapore noodle is not 1 of them., lack of geographic authenticity does not detract from this wonderful dish that is easy to prepare, perks up the taste buds, and can be served as a whole meal, a snack or an appetizer., rice noodles , soaked in cold water for 2 hours, and drained, baby shrimps, without shells, deveined, rinsed and drained, skinless chicken breast , 1/4-inch strips, white wine, soy sauce, cornstarch, ground white pepper, canola oil, to cook, minced ginger, scallions batons, 1-inch lengths, minced garlic, bean sprout , picked, red bell pepper , julienned, onion , julienned, eggs, lightly scrambled, madras curry powder, salt and white pepper to taste