23054 less harsh more conditioning 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.

strawberries, cut and crushed to yield 6 cups crushed berries, sugar, butter (optional), powder sure-jell (for less or no-sugar needed jam)

pillsbury pizza crust, thousand island dressing (more or less ), shredded swiss cheese (more or less ), shredded provolone cheese (more or less ), sauerkraut (more or less ), pastrami (thinly sliced ) or 8 oz corned beef (thinly sliced)

chicken breasts, plain yogurt (be sure it contains live cultures!), olive oil, ground black pepper (more or less ), salt (more or less ), garlic powder (more or less ), sumaq (optional)

macaroni (i usually use shell or elbow), oil, green pepper, diced, onion, diced, hamburger, salt (more or less to taste), pepper (more or less to taste), chili powder (more or less to taste), rotel tomatoes, tomato juice

ground beef, green bell pepper, chopped, dried onion flakes (about a tbsp more or less, to taste), tomato (more or less to taste), beef bouillon cube (more or less to taste), raw rice

pie crust, partially baked (linda s fantabulous food processor pie crust), meat and vegetables, diced fine and cooked, half-and-half cream, eggs , large, salt (more or less ), pepper (more or less ), cayenne pepper (or more or less ), herbs (of your choice.)

hummus ( chickpeas ; garbanzo beans ; ceci beans ), tahini (sesame paste), lemon juice, more or less to taste, salt, more or less to taste, garlic - more to taste, reserved liquid, cummin ( optional), chopped parsley (garnish ), olive oil

almond oil or 2 tsp sesame oil or 2 tsp avocado oil or 2 tsp macadamia nut oil, coconut milk or 1 tbsp fresh cow milk, shampoo , of your choice or 1/4 cup castile liquid soap

ground beef, ground pork, textured vegetable protein, rolled oats, eggs, garlic cloves, carrots, onion, worcestershire sauce, salt (or more to taste), black pepper, hot chili sauce (optional), catsup (topping )

wide egg noodles, chili-o seasoning (more if you like it spicy, less if you don tsp) or 0.5 (2 oz) package taco seasoning mix (more if you like it spicy, less if you don tsp), cream of mushroom soup, cream of tomato soup, grated cheese, salt and pepper

italian sausage, crumbled, yellow onion, diced, fresh parsley, chopped fine, mushrooms, drained (pieces & stems or sliced ), red pasta sauce, stewed tomatoes, with liquid, fresh rosemary, chopped fine, sea salt (more or less to taste), black pepper (more or less to taste), sugar (more or less to taste), red wine

stuffing mushrooms, butter (margarine is ok), onion, stalk celery, italian seasoned breadcrumbs (more or less ), grated parmesan cheese (more or less ) or 2 tsp romano cheese (more or less)

pork , cut into bite size fajita-size strips, cooking oil, pasilla chile (diced ), yellow onion (diced ), canned garbanzo beans (drained ), chili powder (or to taste), cumin , according to taste (ground, less (or more), mexican oregano, to taste (less (or more ), coriander, to taste (ground, less (or more ), sugar (optional but suggested ), tomato sauce (sugar mixed in), masa harina , corn tortilla flour to thicken (optional), chopped fresh cilantro, cooked rice (plain or tex-mex style), diced avocado, chopped green onion, sour cream, tortilla (corn or flour your choice)

progresso italian breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, salt (more or less to taste), garlic powder (more or less to taste), pepper (more or less to taste), butter, melted, chicken breast halves

boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins, cut into bite sized pieces., white or yellow hominy, chicken stock, minced garlic (more or less to taste), cumin (more or less to taste), chili powder (more or less to taste), green chiles

mild sausage (you can use less, but more is more , i say), cornstarch (heaping), nonfat milk, heavy cream, sour cream, room temperature, black pepper, salt, seasoning salt, cayenne pepper (optional)

chicken breasts, broccoli, snow pea pods, uncooked spinach, pasta (i use whole wheat spirals), fat-free italian salad dressing, parmesan cheese (or more if desired), chicken broth (can use more or less ) or 1/2 cup white wine (can use more or less), salt, pepper, garlic powder, olive oil