How to Make Perfectly Fluffy Mashed Potatoes Without Adding More Butter or Milk How to Make Perfectly Fluffy Mashed Potatoes Without Adding More Butter or Milk Mashed potatoes are universally beloved and for good reason—they're cheap, tasty, and relatively easy to make. What's more, they're adaptable to just about every dietary regimen, whether you're vegan, gluten-free, or lactose-intolerant. There are all kinds of recipes and theories about how to make perfectly fluffy mash, but many of them involve elaborate amounts of butter, cream, or other assorted dairy products. Add a Leavening Ingredient The answer to perfect mashed potatoes? Image via wonderhowto.com Baking powder and baking soda are both chemical leaveners that make batters rise, which is why they're included in almost all recipes for baked goods. Baking soda needs to be combined with an acidic ingredient of some kind (buttermilk, lemon juice, vinegar, honey, yogurt) to create carbon dioxide, a gas that emits small bubbles and makes the goods fluffy. Image via blogspot.com
Guide to Arugula SEASON: Arugula prefers cool weather, usually the refreshing days of spring and fall. CHOOSING: Look for unblemished green leaves with no sign of yellowing or wilting. If picking from the garden, snip off just the outer leaves; this way, the plant can produce more for your next salad or stir-fry. STORING: If you buy arugula, keep it from wilting by placing it in a produce bag in the refrigerator. It will last about a week. GROWING: Arugula is mild-mannered when young but becomes downright spicy as the plant matures or the weather gets warm. In early spring, place young plants of arugula in a sunny, well-prepared bed. Arugula grows fast, so replant again every two to three weeks to be sure you have good greens. Each plant will grow into a rosette.
Make Perfectly Crispy Hash Browns at Home with This Trick Remove Excess Water Before Cooking Most recipes will tell you to rinse your shredded potatoes and dry them before baking or frying. If you've ever wondered why, it's because the rinse removes most of the starch from the potatoes. Starch-free potatoes won't clump together, which allows potatoes to get crispy quickly in the oven or stove. A cheesecloth or paper towel is usually recommended to squeeze out the excess water; both methods work just fine, but they are messy and time consuming. Enter the salad spinner. Don't Miss: What to Use If You Don't Have a Salad Spinner Just throw your shredded potatoes into your salad spinner and crank it to get all of the extra water out. The salad spinner also comes in handy for making other thin potato recipes, including tater tots, latkes, and even potato sticks. Don't Miss: How to Make Tater Tots Even More Delicious The Proof's in the Picture To prove my point, I made two different hash browns.
All About Chiles Inspired by conversations on the Food52 Hotline, we're sharing tips and tricks that make navigating all of our kitchens easier and more fun. Today: Chile 101. How to cook with, identify, and enjoy (yes, enjoy) chiles. If there's one ingredient that yields polarizing opinions, it's the chile pepper: Some of us can't get enough of them, adding heaping scoops of chile powder and flakes to our meals, while others avoid the peppers at all cost. While as ubiquitous as salt, the ingredient is shrouded in mystery -- particularly for those who go out of their way to avoid it. So let's turn up our chile know-how, starting with their definition. How to buy and store fresh chiles: Fresh chiles, particularly popular variations like jalapeños and poblanos, can be found in the produce aisle of nearly any grocery store. How to cook with chiles: Once properly protected, it's time to get to work. Chiles lined up in order of heat. Varieties of chiles: Using whole chiles versus dried or powdered:
Todd Coleman's Potato Gratin Recipe on Food52 Cooking is more fun with friends. Find your friends who are already on Food52, and invite others who aren't to join. Let's GoLearn more Join Our Community Follow amazing home cooks. Sign Up ♥ 415 + Save ▴ If you like it, save it! Save and organize all of the stuff you love in one place. Got it! If you like something… Click the heart, it's called favoriting. Author Notes: A potato gratin that cooks in half the time, can be made ahead, and -- best of all -- lets you have control all the way through. Serves 6 5 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 to 2 garlic cloves Salt 6 large waxy potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds), such as red bliss, peeled and sliced about 1/8-inch thick 2 cups half-and-half Freshly ground black pepper Fresh nutmeg 1 cup grated Gruyère Preheat oven to 400° F. This recipe is a Community Pick! More Great Recipes: Cheese & Dairy|Potatoes|Side Dishes 💬 View Comments (34) Share this Recipe Tweet this Recipe
Make Baking Powder That mysterious little ingredient hiding in your pantry, taken out occasionally to help the other, more important, ingredients make a cake. What are you, oh baking powder? You mysterious white powder in a strange container! What are you capable of doing? Why do trustworthy recipes call out for you by name? I mean sure, no one really knows what baking soda is either, but at least it has a bulging arm emblem that immediately recalls strength, and assumingly, a purpose of some sort. Maybe you already knew that both baking soda and baking powder are used as "levelers" in baked goods which help the dough rise and create a fluffy-ish texture. But did you know that you could MAKE baking powder? Whoa, sit back down.
Nick Stellino - Potato Croquettes Ingredients: 2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and quartered 1 head garlic, separated into cloves and peeled 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 3/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley 2 eggs, separated 1 whole egg 1 cup Italian Bread Crumbs Canola or vegetable oil for deep frying Makes 60 Croquettes - Serves 12Printable VersionPut the potatoes and garlic into a large saucepan with enough cold water to cover by 2 inches. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are so soft they will break with pressure from the back of a spoon. Drain the potatoes and garlic, return to the pan and mash until smooth. ©2015 Nick Stellino Productions
Today is...Fava Beans!: Drumstick / Malunggay (Moringa oleifera) Now here's an usual food plant. Ever eat a tree? And I mean, the whole tree? From roots to flowers? A friend of mine takes me to this Indian market the other day, so I can scout for unusual produce. We then head to an Asian supermarket down the street. "Jackpot!" Turns out, they both from the same tree. Drumstick tree, also commonly known as moringa, produces long bean pods known as, well, drumsticks. Even the flowers and the bark of drumstick are edible and tasty. Though I didn't get to taste the roots, I ate plenty of the bean pods and leaves. But I found the tree leaves the most interesting. Because of these purported benefits, I've started adding malunggay to my morning smoothies.
Nick Stellino - Tunisian Stewed Potatoes Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 pound white potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice I onion, cut in half lengthwise then thinly sliced 4 garlic cloves, thickly sliced 1 teaspoon paprika 3/4 teaspoon cardamom 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 tablesppon chopped fresh Italian parsley 1 tablesppon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried 3/4 cup Chicken Stock 3/4 cup Tomato Sauce Serves 4 to 6Printable VersionHeat the olive oil in large saute pan set on high heat until sizzling, about 2 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown. Stir in the onion, garlic, paprika, cardamom, cayenne, salt, pepper, parsley and basil and cook for 2-3 minutes longer. Add the chicken stock and tomato sauce, reduce the heat to medium and cover. ©2015 Nick Stellino Productions
The Spice Series: Fenugreek - The Homestead Garden | The Homestead Garden This is a continuation of my Spice Series. Welcome to my information on Fenugreek! Illustration by Christy Beckwith **Fenugreek is a common spice in Asia and the Middle East. **This plant has yellow and white flowers and very closely resembles alfalfa. **There is a story about how once in New York, the city’s citizens woke up to the whole city smelling like maple syrup. **Besides the seeds, fenugreek leaves are used as well. **Caution: this is the first spice I have researched that does have a warning: pregnant women should not eat fenugreek seeds because they contain ‘saponins’, a chemical compound that is found in oral contraceptives and could induce a miscarriage. This article includes information on the medicinal benefits, culinary uses, and even how to grow your own fenugreek. **I was overwhelmed by the medicinal benefits I was reading about fenugreek. **One of the biggest medicinal benefits is for Diabetes type 2. Fenugreek Seeds **Do NOT eat fenugreek seeds raw. Fenugreek Sprouts