9 that thing 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.

ice, vodka, grand marnier, orange juice, orange slice, to garnish

here are the basics of making an excellent cheese fondue , the proper way (or at least the lindysez way)., use good cheese , i use half emmental swiss and gruyere, grate them up and toss them with some salt and a good amount of pepper. let them sit out at room temp so they melt better . cut your bread (good french bread, but not sourdough) into bite sized pieces making sure to have crust on each piece. let those sit out for a while too so they aren tsp too soft., cheese that you use , you are going to use 1 3/4 cups of a dry white wine, such as a fume blanc, a california sauv blanc (don tsp use a new zealand 1 as most are too grassy) or a pouilly-fume. when you are ready to make the fondue, rub the pot with a clove of garlic (we like garlic, so we leave the clove in, but you don tsp need to); then place over a medium heat and add the wine. when the wine comes to a simmer, start slowly adding the cheese, sprinkling in a handful at a time, allowing each addition to melt (my dad said you always have to stir in the same direction, in a figure 8 motion, it works. if you stir in a circle you will end up with a big glop of cheese in the middle of a pot of wine, the figure 8 is key); keep adding until you have a nice thick sauce, then add a splash of kirsch and a pinch of nutmeg. put over a burner to keep it bubbling, and stir often when you dip your bread., a lb of cheese is enough for 4 people; or more if you are serving other things. and the amounts are guesstimates. i almost always grate too much cheese, so only add as much as you need to get the right consistency ; when you dip a piece of bread into the fondue, you want a nice coating of cheese and for the bread to absorb the wine. that s what it s all about, cheese, wine and bread. so use the best you can of each ingredient. and any left over cheese makes for a mighty good ham and cheese omelet.

there was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. as she was getting her things in serving, she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. she told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. the woman also requested to be buried with her favourite bible., everything was in serving and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her., more thing , she said excitedly. what s that came the pastor s reply. this is very important, the woman continued.. i want to be buried with a fork in my right hand. the pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say.. that surprises you, doesn tsp it the woman asked. well, to be honest, i m puzzled by the request, said the pastor., woman explained. in all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, i always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, keep your fork. it was my favorite part because i knew that something better was coming..like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. something wonderful, and with substance! so, i just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and i want them to wonder what s with the fork then i want you to tell them: keep your fork..the best is yet to come, eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman good-bye. he knew this would be 1 of the last times he would see her before her death. but he also knew that the woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. she knew that something better was coming. at the funeral people were walking by the woman s casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing and her favorite bible and the fork placed in her right hand. over and over the pastor heard the question what s with the fork and over and over he smiled., during his message , the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died. he also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. the pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either., he was right ., next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you oh so gently, that the best is yet to come..

boneless skinless chicken breasts, real butter, water, fresh green beans, italian dressing (not creamy or you can always make your own), firm tomatoes or 3 roma tomatoes, chopped (optional)

butter, white onion, very thinly sliced into half -rings, salt and pepper, garlic, minced, snow peas, washed and ends snipped, head napa cabbage , 1/4-inch slices (aka chinese cabbage), soy sauce (to taste)

unsweetened chocolate, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, chocolate , semisweet, dulce de leche, marshmallow creme