this food thing

Posted By admin on March 29, 2010

I like to use butter when I sauté or fry in some recipes.  Nothing tastes better than mushrooms sautéed in butter, and when making Chicken Picatta, the chicken must be cooked in butter – thats part of the wonderful flavor.  But unless you are careful, the butter can burn.   It is the milk solids in butter that burn – and it happens fast.   The burn temperature of butter is 250F, and the smoke point is 400F.  So, if you are sauteing something, almost always, your temperature will be someplace in-between those two temps, causing the butter to burn.

One easy solution is to lower the temperature.  However, that does not always produce the desired results.  There are two solutions I usually use, and both are pretty simple to do:

1.  Add a teaspoon of oil for every 2 tablespoons of butter.  This immediately raises the burn and smoke points to an acceptable non-burning temp.  The most common high burn temp (Over 400F) oils are:  canola, olive, corn, cottonseed, grapeseed, rapeseed, peanut, sunflower, sesame.

2.  Make Clarified Butter or what is also known as Ghee.  Two different methods below:

Method One:

In a sauce pan, melt butter slowly.  without stirring at all.  Allow to cool and separate.   The milk solid foam will stay at the top, and milk solids will form at the bottom.  What is in the middle is the clarified butter.   Once the butter has cooled enough (it will begin to thicken), skim this foam off the top. Pour off the butter, leaving the milk solids in the pan.  Discard the milk solids, and store the clarified butter in a cool place.

Method Two (Alton Brown’s method) is just as simple:

Place butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring butter to boil. This takes approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium. The butter will form a foam which will disappear. Ghee is done when a second foam forms on top of butter, and the butter turns golden. Approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Brown milk solids will be in bottom of pan. Gently pour into heatproof container through fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Store in airtight container being sure to keep free from moisture. Ghee does not need refrigeration and will keep in airtight container for up to 1 month.

**Although using clarified butter does raise the burn point, butter will eventually burn if too high of a temp is used

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Tags: butter, clarified butter, ghee, how to, tips, tricks

Posted By admin on March 27, 2010

Maple.  To me, that brings to mind the warmth of the kitchen on a Sunday morning, with pancakes and maple syrup.  And the memory of my mother’s oatmeal cookies. She used to make oatmeal, maple flavored cookies with butterscotch chips, and though I always loved the scent of these, I didn’t really care for the butterscotch chips.

The scent, and flavor of maple is one of my favorites.  I like to make oatmeal, with a touch of maple flavoring; add it to apples just before baking; warm milk with maple flavoring is just yummy, and numerous other recipes.

This one I made today.  I’ve made “blondies” many times.  I usually use chocolate chips and pecans.  But today I decided to use walnuts, white chocolate chips, and maple flavoring.

Maple Walnut Blondies

1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted and cooled (not cold)
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
2 eggs
4 teaspoons maple flavoring
6 ounces white chocolate chips (I use Guittard, if possible)

If you have the time, roast the nuts on a baking sheet at 350 for bout 15 minutes.  Cool before using.  If not, no worries.  Roasting gives deeper flavor, as the oils are already released. 

Line a 13×9 baking pan with foil, and then spray or grease well. 

Mix together flour, baking powder and the salt in a bowl and put to the side.

In a larger mixing bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar, and whisk together until smooth.  The sugar will still be grainy, but the mix will look smooth. 

Add in the eggs and maple flavoring and mix well.

Add in the flour mixture.  Don’t over mix — just mix until blended.  You don’t want this to be gluey or doughy.

Add in the nuts and chips.  Pour into the baking pan.  Bake at 350, between 22 and 26 minutes, until the top is shiny and cracked.  It should be a light golden brown.  Be careful not to over bake these, as they get dry and crumbly, and aren’t all that great. 

Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, and then lift from the pan by the foil edges.  Allow to cool and then cut into small squares. 

If you have any left over chocolate, melt it, and then before cutting into squares, drizzle over the top of the blondies.  Melt the chips in the microwave for 30 seconds, remove, stir, and repeat in 30 second increments, until the chips have melted.  Stir in between every time.  Then, using a fork, dip the fork into the chocolate and drizzle over the blondies.  Allow to cool, and then cut into squares.

Variations:

• Use Pecans and Chocolate
• Add in coconut (the unsweetened kind)
• Use the above recipe, with vanilla in place of the maple
• Use Hazelnuts and Hazelnut chips (I can only occasionally find these at the health food store)

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Posted By admin on March 26, 2010

I really do love Brussels Sprouts.  A member of the cabbage family, these have been cultivated over the years to be dense, leafy “miniature green cabbages”.  They have a sweet, but earthy taste that is not easily describable. 

I will admit, though, that as a child, I hated these green balls of nastiness.  As an adult, I learned to cook them properly (my mother over-boiled them to mush – NOT the right way!!), and have come to really look forward to them in spring.

My usual way of cooking these is just to steam them until they are soft, but still have a but of crunch left in them.  I really dislike these when they are over-cooked bits of mush. 

The recipe here was shared with me by a co-worker.  She had brought these in as leftovers from the night before, and everyone tasted them..and we all wanted more.

Brussels Sprouts, with Apple Cider Vinegar

1 pound fresh brussels sprouts, cleaned and trimmed.  Cut each in half
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup of vegetable stock (or water)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the oil in a sauté’ pan over medium heat.  When hot, add the brussels sprouts and salt.  Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the sprouts become golden – 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the size.

Add in 1/2 cup of the stock and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat, cover and simmer with the lid slightly ajar, until the sprouts are almost tender, and most of the stock/water has simmered away.

Remove the lid, and add in the last of the stock, the sugar, and the apple cider vinegar.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced.  About 5 minutes.  Season with salt & pepper. 

These can be served either hot or cold.

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