background preloader

Techniques & Tips

Facebook Twitter

How to Drink Vodka - Best Way to Drink Vodka. Ask Börje Karlsson, master blender of the vodka that carries his last name, if he'd like a cocktail made with his product, and he'll look at you as if you had just asked to teach his daughter pole dancing. If you think about it, he's not wrong. The cocktail was created to make distilled spirits docile and fit for polite company. But spiking them with bitters and sugar or lemon juice and imported liqueurs and waltzing them around with ice isn't the only way to accomplish that. You can also put your rough, raw hooch in a barrel and age it for a generation or so in the hope that the impurities will evaporate before all the alcohol does. Or you can distill it to the greatest purity you can achieve and then filter the result at a submicron level, thus stripping off all but traces of everything that isn't ethyl alcohol or water, at which point you can just put it in a glass and drink it.

That last one is the traditional approach in vodka's homeland, the northern and eastern parts of Europe. How to Seed and Dice a Jalapeño or Chile. This is a great way to remove the seeds from a jalapeño or chile while minimizing contact with the seeds or having the chile squirt at you while trying to scrape the seeds out. Slice off the tip To make the chile more stable while you are cutting it, slice off a small amount of the tip. Slice off flesh Insert your knife in the top of the chile, blade down and slice the flesh off of the chile in a downward curve. Repeat Continue to slice the flesh off in downward strokes. Remove all the flesh Continue slicing until all of the flesh is removed leaving only the seeds and stem behind.

Prepare chile strips Lay the chile flesh down in a row. Slice the chile strips lengthwise Place the skin side down and slice the strips into match-stick sized pieces. Slice the strips again Now slice the strips the opposite way to create little cubes. Your diced chile is now ready The chile is now ready to be used in your recipe calling for "seeded and diced" jalapeño or chile. How To: Substitute Honey for Sugar in a Recipe | 100 Mile Challenge. May 26, 2009 This is one of the most straightforward switcheroos in local eating, but it still takes a bit of figuring to get it right. Here's how to do it: Honey can be substituted for sugar in equal amounts up to one cup (250 mL). For example, you can substitute one cup of honey for one cup of sugar called for in a recipe. Honey is sweeter than sugar, so when a recipe calls for more than one cup of sugar, use between 2/3 and 3/4 cup of honey for every cup of sugar. Honey is a liquid, so to compensate for adding liquid to the recipe, you'll need to reduce the liquid elsewhere (e.g. milk, water).

Honey causes baked goods to brown more quickly, so reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F and watch carefully as cooking time comes to a close. Got any local cooking tips you'd like to share? How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs. 1. Place the eggs in a single layer at the bottom of a saucepan. Cover with at least an inch or two of cold water. The more eggs that are crowding the pan the more water you should have over the eggs. 2. Heat the pot on high heat and bring the water to a full rolling boil. Adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the water may help keep egg whites from running out if an egg does crack while cooking. 3. If you have the type of stove burner that doesn't retain any heat when turned off, you might want to lower the temp to low, simmer for a minute, and then turn it off. Depending on how cooked you like your hard boiled eggs, the eggs should be done perfectly in 10-12 minutes.

If I'm cooking a large batch of eggs, after 10 minutes I'll sacrifice one to check for doneness, by removing it with a spoon, running it under cold water, and cutting it open. I also find that it is very hard to overcook eggs using this method. 4. I find it easiest to peel the eggs under a bit of running water.

Towards the perfect soft boiled egg » blog.khymos.org. Many cookbooks suggest the following for boiling eggs: 3-6 min for a soft yolk, 6-8 min for a medium soft yolk and 8-10 min for a hard yolk. If you are satisfied with this, there is no need for you to continue reading. But if you’ve ever wondered whether the size of an egg has any impact on the cooking time you should read on. And if you search the ultimate soft boiled egg we share a common goal! From a scientific view point, a cooking time of approximately 3-8 minutes to obtain a soft yolk is not very precise.

A number of important parameters remain unanswered: What size are the eggs? A formula for boiling eggs? I still remember the very first time I heard about a formula to calculate the cooking time for eggs. And thanks to the internet, google and Peter Barham’s book “The Science of Cooking” – I have been able to find out much more. The doneness of the egg depends on the temperature of the white and the yolk.

At sea level, the temperature of boiling water is 100 °C. Share. Meringue, Meringue Recipe, Egg White Meringue, How To Make Meringue, Perfect Meringue, Making Pie Meringue, Egg White Recipes. Baking Corner | Regional Foods | Cooking Articles | Hints & Tips | Culinary Dictionary | Newspaper Columns Egg White Meringue - How To Make Perfect Meringue Whipping egg whites are much like blowing air into a balloon. Beating or whisking causes the protein in the egg whites to unfold, forming films that trap the air bubbles, and the sugar stiffens the foam.

A meringue is really nothing but a foam, and foam is a big collection of bubbles. Age of Eggs: Meringue recipes work better with eggs that are at least 3 or 4 days old. Thin, older egg whites whip more easily to a higher volume than thick, fresh egg whites. Don't make egg white meringues on a rainy or really humid day (remember that they are mostly air and if that air contains a lot of water, it will have an effect).

Separating Eggs: Cold eggs separate more easily than those at room temperature because the whites hold together better. To separate an egg: Crack the egg and hold the shell halves over a bowl. Bowls and Utensils: Boiling Eggs.