11 dos and don 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.

this recipe is easy and can be adjusted accordingly - today i used half italian bread crumbs from progresso and half of my bread crumbs i made from my sun-dried tomato bread i had made earlier this month. this is a nice spicy and chunky styled crab cake - so enjoy! you can also make small balls of them and deep fry - but i do fine with sauteeing them in the skillet to make it less fattening., ok here we go ..., onion chopped fine, green pepper chopped fine, red pepper chopped fine, more of lump crab meat (ok to use more affordable imitation crab meat- sssh i won tsp tell a soul if you don t, i promise!), olive oil, pepper, old bay seasoning, herbs de province, worcestershire sauce, zest and juice of 1 lemon, bread crumbs, eggs, mayonnaise, dijon mustard, dry mustard, butter, white wine (optional - but it did add that extra something, equipment needed, skillet , bowl

boneless beef cube (or any steak cut up into cubes), water, onion, season salt (to taste), cream of mushroom soup, condensed golden mushroom soup, sour cream (two to 1 ratio on soups important. don tsp cut out golden mushroom or do 1 each changes the flavor), milk, cooked egg noodles

firm tofu, frozen and thawed (you don tsp have to do this, but it will help the tofu soak up more flavor), tamari, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, grated, water, tomato juice (i use low-sodium v8), vegetable oil, quinoa (about 2/3 cup uncooked will yield this amount, use 1-1/3 cups of water), green beans (i had a combination, or any other steamed vegetables you like, or salad...) or 4 cups yellow wax beans (i had a combination, or any other steamed vegetables you like, or salad...), tamari, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, grated, water, tomato juice (i use low-sodium v8), miso , a bit generous (i use dark-colored rice, or kome, ), cornstarch, scallion, thinly sliced, alfalfa sprouts (or other sprouts)

ears of corn, husks and silks removed, butter, a large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into small dice, shallot, minced, garlic, minced, chipotle chile , in adobo sauce minced, optional if you don tsp like spicy, heavy cream, salt and fresh ground black pepper, a lime squeezed. about 1 tbsp of lime juice, minced cilantro, if you do not like cilantro , please sub some flat leaf italian parsley, cotija cheese, crumbled, addition: 3 slices of thick cut bacon, cooked and crumbled, course , keep it vegetarian without the addition of bacon

quinces, ripe (ask the seller about ripeness), creme fraiche, thick (or thick cream, 125 g), superfine sugar (caster sugar, 90 g), vanilla, granulated sugar (150 g), salt

baby lima beans , sorted and rinsed, dry white beans (navy or northern) or 1/2 cup black-eyed peas, sorted and rinsed (you can also use a good cholent bean mix), chuck roast (don tsp use that fatty cholent plate and do put some bones in) or 1 1/4 lbs beef brisket (don tsp use that fatty cholent plate and do put some bones in) or 1 1/4 lbs top ribs (don tsp use that fatty cholent plate and do put some bones in) or 1 1/4 lbs beef shanks (don tsp use that fatty cholent plate and do put some bones in) or 1 1/4 lbs other pot roast (don tsp use that fatty cholent plate and do put some bones in), onion, chopped, pot barley, washed, dry lentils , sorted and rinsed, paprika, salt, ground black pepper, ground ginger, potatoes , scrubbed

links italian sausage (mix of hot and sweet or whatever you have. the hot sausage really makes the soup though), browned and sliced (doesn tsp have to get all the way cooked in the browning), bacon, cooked, chopped , and drippings reserved, celery stalks, diced medium, onions, chopped, carrots, chopped, yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped (don tsp peel when you do the other veg, wait until the soup s on and you re ready to add them, then peel and chop), lentils (brown is classic for the recipe, green/red/yellow are cool too), tomato paste (or all of 1, they re a pain to keep. if you re really cool and have it in a tube about 2 tsp), bay leaves, thyme (if you use fresh sprigs, throw 4 in), flat leaf italian parsley, chopped, lots o water (bout 8-10 cups), salt and pepper to sweat the veg and then to taste after the taters go in and cook for about 20)

king arthur unbleached all-purpose flour, instant yeast, eggs, at room temperature, egg yolk , white reserved, water, butter, salt, ground pepper (black if you don tsp mind the specks, white if you do), grated parmesan cheese or 1 1/2 cups romano cheese or 1 1/2 cups asiago cheese, egg white (from above), water