79 have more 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.

spicy sausage links (use more if you have more), sweet onion, sweet red pepper, yellow sweet pepper, green bell pepper, olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan, salt, pepper, hoagie roll

butter, softened, brown sugar, vanilla, unsweetened dark cocoa powder, instant espresso powder, baking soda, egg whites, fat free sour cream or yogurt, all-purpose flour, powdered sugar (you won tsp use it all but it s helpful to have more!)

light soy sauce, lemon juice, curry powder (or to taste), pepper, garlic, minced, boneless, chicken thighs ( or breasts, but thighs have more flavor!), vegetable oil, peanut sauce, vegetable oil, chopped onion, ginger root, minced, red pepper flakes, peanut butter, water, light soy sauce

you will need : this is my own version....it doesn tsp include boiled parsnips, which are often used., chicken breasts,cooked, diced, baking potatoes, cooked,diced, carrots,boiled,diced, diced pickles, frozen peas, ex large eggs, boiled,diced, mustard, salt and pepper to taste, mayonnaise, extra ingredients for boiling chicken, if you want to make a stock, use the rib-in type of chicken breast...the ones with the rib bone attached. the bones impart a ton of flavor to the stock.you can then just remove the breast meat to use in the salad. if you don tsp want to make any stock, just use regular chicken breast. ), onion, celery stalks, carrots, parsnip (optional), use parsley , olives, reserved boiled vegetables, egg etc., important : if you would like to decorate your salad, remember to reserve some vegetables,egg,etc., boil potatoes in their skins in salted water till fork tender ., boil eggs till hard. set aside. place chicken breasts in a pot with water(sort of like making a soup). water doesn tsp have to be exact but you should have plenty(maybe 6-8 cups). place about 2-3 carrots, a stalk or two of celery and 1 onion. add some salt ( about 1 tbsp kosher salt). bring to boil and then simmer till carrots are tender and chicken is cooked. remove chicken and carrots to use for the potato salad. you can reserve the stock for a soup or freeze in small containers to use later in pan sauces, etc., dice chicken , potatoes, carrots(parsnip too, if you are using), and eggs. dice pickles and squeeze them a bit to remove some of their juice(this helps so that your salad doesn tsp become too watery). place frozen peas in a colander.place under running warm water to defrost them . drain completely and add to the rest of the diced ingredients., add mustard and pepper and 1 cup mayo., mix till combined taste for seasoning ., add more mayo to the mixture until it is tuna salad-like(for a lack of a better term) . you might need the full 2 cups. this depends on preference...use less if you don tsp want it too creamy or use more if you like it creamier. place in a nice serving dish and spread a thin layer of mayo...decorate with reserved vegetables(egg, carrots, peas, pickles, parsley, olives, chopped eggs...). since i didn tsp have too much time to decorate, wasn tsp planning on posting, and forgot to reserve some vegetables, i kept it rather simple.

finding gold is really easy. i always go on saturday morning ., best spots to find gold is scraping the moss off rocks by the river or cleaning out crevasses in bedrock along the river shore. i scrap moss as it acts like the carpet in a sluice box and traps the gold that is washed down the river during the winter. i have had pans with hundreds for pieces, just amazing to see., i designed customs tools for scraping and getting the fine dust and matter off the rocks. well i am an inventor., nothing is better than sitting down against a rock at lunch time , having a great sandwich, ice cold water, the river is flowing by, the sounds of the water, birds on the wing, lizards scooting over the rocks, and there is gold in the bag., by bag i mean , i scrap the moss or clean crevasses, put the material in a special pail, place the pail under the surface and stir to get the dirt to float out., then i put this material in my pan , swish it around, work a little of the sand out and then tilt it back and let the water roll over the sand. bang! glitter all over. now most people sit there and pan out all the sand, get down to the black sand (iron), pan out the iron, and then put the gold in bottle. total waste of time., panning is strictly recreational. i have a limited time at the river and ever minute counts. i carry my 6 mil 12 x 12 inch zip lock bags. once i see there is color in the sand, it is dumped into the bag and i go get more material. this way i can collect the most material for the 5 hours i have to pan. this is a very cool way to get gold and developed by me., once i get home , i put the material onto cookie sheets and dry it in the oven. once dry and cool, i use a special magnet and remove the iron particles. once the iron is removed, i put the sand through different size brass screens to separate the larger particles so when i pan i am not trying to move large and small particles., sunday morning i sit in my recliner , a light over my shoulder and put a tbsp of material in the green pan in the pics. watching a dvd i start panning the material, suck up the gold and put in a bottle. i do this starting with the biggest particles, love seeing the biggest pieces of gold., i work all the sand i can on sunday and if i am down to really fine particles of sand, it is put in quart containers for another day. there are so many of these containers still not panned. 1 might say there is gold in the garage., if there is a river known to have been a producer of gold close to you, go out and give it a try. i have taught many kids to pan; 1 went and found a nugget as big as my nail on my finger. it was huge! rotten kid wouldn tsp give to me for teaching him. oh, its all right, i will find my own some day. what was cool was after teaching the kids they would go back and pan on their own and find gold. how cool is that, hope you enjoyed finding gold for fun. jj - thegoldminer

i use a 3 1/2 to 4 lb chuck roast, well marbelized with fat, and if you can find a bone-in roast, that s better yet (but it s almost always boneless chuck that you find at the grocer). i like to quickly rinse the roast in cold water just before i lay it on the cutting board to coat it with seasoned flour. place the following ingredients in a small baggie and shake the closed bag to mix it up, flour, salt, garlic salt, crazy mixed-up salt (if you can tsp get this seasoning, use seasoned salt instead, but jane s is by far the best), pepper, use your hands to generously pat the seasoned flour into the roast, on both sides, flipping the roast a couple times and repeating the process., in a dutch oven or roasting pan large enough to hold the roast, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium high heat - you want your pan and oil to be hot enough to sear the roast well when you put it in the pan. when the oil is just about to the smoking point, put the roast in and cover the pan. let the meat sear until nicely browned on the bottom, then flip the roast. let it sear for a minute or two on the second side, then add, beef stock (i much prefer the boxed stock to the canned broth - it just seems to give the gravy a much richer taste in the end), cover the roasting pan and place it in a pre-heated 300 degree oven. roast for 4 to 5 hours, until the meat is fork tender and falls apart easily. i check the roast each hour, quickly opening the lid, just to make sure the stock has not evaporated. as long as your pan has a good seal on it, this shouldn tsp happen. but if necessary, add more stock to the pan., an hour before the roast is done , prepare the mashed potatoes. peel 6 large red potatoes (these work better - at least for me - because they are much moister than the russets, so the mashed potatoes are creamier); cut into 1/4th, and place them in a large saucepan - rinse the cut potatoes 2 times in cold water, then cover them in fresh cold water and place the pan over medium high heat; boil until tender. this is usually about 30 minutes, but it depends on the size of your cuts, so just cook them until you can easily insert a fork into a potato. drain potatoes well, reserving 1 cup of the water for the gravy. add the following to the hot potatoes, butter, sour cream, milk, salt, crazy mixed up salt (use regular salt or garlic salt if jane s salt is not available), pepper, i use a hand masher , but you can use an electric mixer or however you chose to mash the potatoes into a creamy yet firm texture. add more milk if potatoes are too stiff. place the mashed potatoes in a buttered casserole dish, cover with foil, and place in the oven to keep warm while you make the gravy., prepare the gravy, melt 2 tbsp butter, stir in 1/4 cup flour to make a paste, stir in enough beef stock to thin the paste enough to pour., finished roast from the pan and place it on a plate; cover meat with foil to keep warm., place the roasting pan over a medium flame and bring the liquid to a gentle boil (i usually seem to have about 1 1/2 to 2 cups liquid in the pan when the roast is done - if you have less, just use the beef stock to increase your liquid)., use a whisk to gradually whisk in the butter/flour/stock liquid., add 2 tbsp beef base - i use tone s (i prefer beef base to buillon - has a richer flavor and is really worth having on hand, but if you can tsp find this, try knorr s beef buillon extra large cubes), add the 1 cup of reserved potato water, add 1/2 cup beef stock, taste the gravy and see if you want more seasoning. i usually find i don tsp need to add anything at this point, since i have the seasoning from the flour coating and the stock and the beef base. if you think you need more seasoning, add salt and pepper to your taste. beef base will also give you more saltiness., keep the gravy warm while you uncover the meat and use 2 forks to pull the meat apart into small to medium chunks., you are now ready to assemble...

everywhere you look , there is a lot of emphasis on cutting the fat out of our daily diets, but who wants to cut out the fat if it means cutting out the flavor when it comes to baking, there is a way to cut down on your fat intake without changing the ingredients in your favorite recipes. if you switch to nonstick silicone bakeware, you can cut down on your fat intake with minimal effort. because the bakeware is nonstick, you never have to use butter, shortening, or grease on your pans or sheets to ensure easy food removal., first silicone items made exclusively for baking were small silicone mats that fit nicely on your cookie sheet and allowed you to bake cookies with out greasing the cookie sheet or worrying about the bottoms getting burned. these little mats were a huge success and stores were hard pressed to keep them in stock., as the popularity of these mats grew , manufacturers decide to explore the idea of making more bakeware from silicone. they began making spoons, spatulas, and whisks that could withstand high heats and could be used with nonstick cookware with no fear of ruining the coating. silicone utensils were the perfect choice for candy making or any other project that required a boiling and sticky liquid to be stirred., kitchen supply manufacturers also introduced silicone potholders and oven gloves. because they can withstand heats up to 500 degrees, they are the perfect insurance that you won tsp get burned when you pull a hot dish from your oven. they don tsp conduct heat the way that a cloth potholder does and they are much sturdier and easy to keep clean than traditional potholders. home canners fell in love with silicone baker s mitts because they could actually reach into a pot of boiling water to remove a hot jar of food once it was done processing. as an added bonus these durable potholders do double duty as lid grippers making opening jars a snap., once silicone hit kitchens in the form of baking mats , utensils, and pot holders, kitchen experts began to see the potential of this material in everyday baking. suddenly almost any type of bakeware that could traditionally be found in stainless steel, aluminum, glass, or stoneware was being offered in brightly colored silicone. stores began selling muffin tins, bread loaf pans, cake pans, and pie pans. the most popular pieces tend to be the specialty designed cake pans that allow you to make cakes shaped like everything from roses to pumpkins. they even have mini cake pans that make individual, fancy shaped cakes., popularity of silicone bakeware skyrocketed as cooks began to see the benefits of using this material in their kitchens. foods pop out of silicone pans with amazing ease. you never need to grease, flour, or even use cooking spray on a silicone pan and that adds up to lots of calories and fat grams saved with each meal. because silicone is very flexible, it is easy to bend and twist it so that cakes and breads pop out easily. you never have to force baked goods out of the pan, so they retain there shape and you don tsp see a lot of split and broken cakes., silicone is a bakers dream when it comes to making evenly cooked delicacies. the material distributes heat evenly, so you never end up with a cake that is burned around the edges and still not cooked in the middle. it also cools down quickly ensuring that your foods will not continue cooking and possibly drying out once you remove them from the oven., because silicone is nonstick , cleanup is a breeze. a little soap and water and any crumb left on your bakeware disappears. it is nonporous, so it never retains any odors from the foods you cook. completely versatile it goes from oven to table to freezer and can even be thrown in the dishwasher. once you are done cleaning it, storage is a snap. with its flexibility, you can twist it, bend it, fold it or mash it up so it can fit in the smallest of drawers or cupboards., if you haven tsp tried silicone bakeware , add a piece or two to your kitchen. you will be surprised at its quality and flexibility.

chicken breasts, diced into 1-inch pieces (i have made this with chicken thigh meat and it works fine), green bell peppers, diced into 1-inch pieces (red peppers are okay if that is what you have), green onions, chopped into 1-inch slices (use white and green bits), walnuts, halves broken in half again (or more ), soy sauce, chinese wine or 6 tbsp dry sherry or 6 tbsp water, cornstarch (cornflour), water, fresh ginger, chopped finely, red chili pepper flakes, sugar (use more if you like sweet ), vegetable oil

risotto with sausage and cranberry beans, make risotto , you absolutely must use a specific type of rice called arborio rice (carnaroli and vialone nano are also used, some say superior, but are more difficult to find). these types of rice release starch when stirred in a liquid; it is this process which makes risotto, otherwise you just have a starchy mess of mush. these types of rice are identified by their fat round grains and pearly appearance. they can be used to make other sorts of rice dishes, such as pilaf, but other types of rice cannot be used for risotto. arborio is no longer that much of a specialty product; it can be found in most large, well-stocked grocery stores in the italian section. or sometimes, misguidedly, in the asian section., okay , so now we have the rice. you will also need some good, low-salt stock or broth - it should be low-salt not for health reasons, but because a good deal of it will evaporate, leaving its salt behind, and i like to have more control over the salt in a dish. it can be homemade, but i m not going to be a snob about it because, in truth, we go through gallons of store-bought stock in this household and i don tsp see that changing anytime soon. furthermore, risotto is actually a dish which can be whipped up out of thin air when it seems as though you have nothing to eat, as long as you have butter, rice, stock, maybe a few herbs, and some leftover parmesan. i like the kind of stock purchased in tetrapak cartons, because they are resealable and can be put in the fridge and used as needed. if you really want to use homemade but you don tsp have time to make stock or don tsp like the aroma of roasting bones in your house (i don tsp blame you), you can buy really great stock at north market poultry and game - it is expensive, but can be diluted with a 2- or 3-to-1 ratio of water to stock, so it stretches. my general guideline is to plan on 1/4 cup dry rice per person, and about 4 cups of stock to 1 cup of rice. of course, this isn tsp exact and will vary depending on your elevation and the phases of the moon, but it s a good place to start. i usually just use 4 cups of stock and then dilute with water or wine (or sometimes beer, if that s all i have) if i feel i m going to run out., well, we have rice and stock covered, now we just need our setup: place the stock in a saucepan on your rear burner, bring to a simmer, and leave it there with a 6-8 oz ladle in, and place a large, wide saute pan (must be really large, plan that your rice will at least quadruple in size) or dutch oven on the burner in front. get out your favorite wooden spoon and flex your stirring arm., nice thing about using sausage is it s so full of flavor you can leave out the usual onion/garlic/shallot/celery nonsense if you re tired and don tsp feel like chopping. furthermore, sausage goes from the freezer to the pan without suffering too much. okay, let s go, risotto with sausage and cranberry beans - serves 4, links italian sausage , or 1 lb bulk (or hot, or a combination - definitely with some fennel), casings removed, cooked cranberry beans or 1 can white beans, drained, arborio rice, beef , chicken or vegetable stock, butter, freshly, finely grated parmesan cheese , plus more for garnish, an oz) flat-leaf parsley, chopped finely, lemon juice , or juice from 1/2 lemon, salt and black pepper to taste, red pepper flakes to taste, optional, good balsamic vinegar , optional

zucchini, trimmed & halved lengthwise (use more or less as desired. i like a little more, but some like a little less!), sweet red pepper, sweet corn (canned ), olive oil, sweet pork sausage, casings removed (if you would like to have more meat in your dish, you can add more; the same goes for the ground chi), ground chicken, egg, italian breadcrumbs (amount will depend on moisture in meat and size of egg), chopped onion, whipping cream, grated fontina cheese, penne pasta, oregano (optional), minced garlic (optional)

white bread (stale bread slices are the best), sized potatoes (boiled and mashed up roughly ), mustard seeds, curry leaves (more if you like ), green chilies, turmeric powder (optional. i make mine without turmeric), red chili powder (optional), oil (more for later), water tsp salt, salt, salt, garam masala, freshly chopped coriander leaves (to garnish )

eggs, slightly beaten, light corn syrup, splenda brown sugar blend, molasses, butter, melted, flour, salt, vanilla, pecans, chopped in small pieces (*i like using 1 cup in serving to have more filling)

rotini pasta , cooked according to package directions for al-dente and cooled (or farfalle or other medium sized pasta), carrots, peeled and shredded, celery ribs, diced, green onions, diced (use all but the toughest of the dark green leaves), light bleu cheese salad dressing, light ranch salad dressing, hot sauce (preferably frank s, and have more to add to taste), chicken breasts, poached and shredded (rotisserie works well!)

smoked sausage sliced into 1/4-inch rounds, boneless pork chops, cubed, boneless chicken, cut into cubes, boneless thighs have more flavor, chopped onions, bell pepper, chopped, rib celery, chopped, minced garlic, worcestershire sauce, creole seasoning (i use tony chacherie s), rotel tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, cooked spaghetti

more) large pasta shells (cooked al dente), cottage cheese (approx. - i don tsp measure!), more) ricotta (i used low fat), shredded parmesan (i just shook it in, prob. 1/4 cup), thawed frozen chopped spinach, squeezed dry, approx . 1/4 cup, dried basil, salt & pepper to taste, sauce, chopped onion (est. 1/4 - 1/2 cup), cream of mushroom (or any you desire, see above), more sour cream, little less than 1 soup can full of milk or chicken broth, shredded cheese (about 1/2 to 3/4 cup) i used italian blend, cubed cooked chicken breasts , however much you have, about 1 breast (i had some grilled, but you can used canned), dried tarragon (again, to taste, i don tsp measure), dried thyme ( ), roasted garlic and bell pepper seasoning - just shook it in (not necessary), shredded cheese (yes more , for sprinkling on top of shells before baking)

keep in mind that you can really vary the ingredients. the only thing to be cautious about is avoiding certain types of vegetables that tend to produce bitter-tasting stock., more onions , quartered. (don tsp bother taking off the skin.) i think yellow onions are nicest for stock, and it s best to have at least 1 yellow, but you can also use a combination including white and red. i use up to about 5 onions., carrots , including their tops (but not the carrot greens), chopped into a few pieces., more leeks (nice but not required), chopped and washed, garlic cloves, in their skin, crushed with the side of a knife blade, celery ribs, coarsely chopped, parsley sprigs, fresh thyme (or dry , if you don tsp have fresh), fresh sage leaves (or some dry, if you haven tsp got fresh), fresh marjoram or oregano sprigs, bay leaves, black peppercorns, sea salt to taste, cold, filtered water, potato, sliced, mushrooms, sliced, more beets (give excellent flavor and color to a vegetarian stock in recipes like french onion soup that often call for beef broth), meat-eaters variation : chicken carcass and other parts (i buy rotisserie chicken, use the meat, and then make stocks from the bones and carcass), avoid adding the following vegetables to stocks, as they tend to make them bitter, broccoli , cabbage, and other cruciferous vegetables, zucchini and other squash

rotini pasta or 4 cups plain old macaroni or 4 cups pasta shells or 4 cups bow tie pasta, cheddar cheese soup (my preferred brand), cubed cheddar cheese (any type you like , really any type you have on hand) or 2 cups colby (any type you like, really any type you have on hand) or 2 cups mozzarella cheese (any type you like, really any type you have on hand) or 2 cups gouda cheese (any type you like, really any type you have on hand) or 2 cups havarti cheese (any type you like, really any type you have on hand), velveeta cheese , cut into cubes, low-fat milk, cream, ground mustard, pepper (or more to taste), tabasco sauce (add more or less to your taste) (optional), dried parsley or 2 tsp fresh parsley, finely chopped, onion, sauteed in, butter (optional), bacon , precooked and crumbled (optional), shredded cheddar cheese (for topping ), breadcrumbs (for topping )