10 techniques every cook should know Breading This easy, three-step technique ensures an even crumb coating. It's commonly used on thin cuts of chicken, pork or veal that will be fried or baked. To begin, set up your breading station. Start by dredging a piece of meat in the flour. The second step is to dip the meat into the egg wash, again letting the extra drip off. Try to work with one hand as you complete the process, so as not to bread your fingers on both hands - that can lead to a sticky mess. Proceed with the recipe as directed. Browning/Searing Myths abound about the benefits of searing, most notably that it seals in the juices. The most important factor in this technique is to start with a very hot pan. Although you can use nonstick pans for delicate fish, pans without a nonstick finish do a better job of browning, and leave lovely browned flavorful bits to use in a pan sauce (see "Making pan sauce.") Place your ingredient directly into the pan. Dicing an onion If done properly, dicing an onion is very simple. Folding
International Incident Party! (Boston Cream Pie Cake Pops) This has a "vintage" feel mostly because I ran low on light! 8) Is anyone else sick of hearing that this or that treat is going to be "the next cupcake"? The sweets I've heard mentioned most are cake pops, French macarons, whoopie pies, and now even regular pies. I mean I know what what people mean when they say it (i.e., "the next big thing"), but please just let each treat have it's own identity! Plus I'm pretty sure actual cupcakes ain't goin' away anytime soon 8). Partly due to my aversion to fads plus just plain lack of interest, I'd neither tasted nor made cake pops until last month. Was this what all the fuss was about? So it's nearly impossible to mention cake pops without mentioning Bakerella. Other than the usual goal of creating cute n' tasty treats, I had several others in mind: to avoid (1) an overly mushy/greasy/sweet filling, (2) flavorless cake, and (3) excessive coating. Fail Pops: before I figured out the best dipping method =p Now for the fun part...the flavor!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles | recipegirl.com I’ve never liked chocolate chip cookies. Go ahead and throw tomatoes at me if you’d like, but I don’t like ’em. They’re just a plain old cookie, after all, with a few studs of chocolate chips in them. I know there are plenty of cookie-dough-nay-sayers out there… you know, the salmonella scare and all . Chilled dough is rolled into 1-inch balls. Those chilled dough balls are dipped in chocolate and then placed onto waxed paper to set. I dipped a few in Ghirardelli White Chocolate Bark and a few in the Chocolate version too. Oh yeah! Yield: 3 to 4 dozen truffles Prep Time: 45 min + chilling time Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles Best served cold, these treats are for cookie-dough lovers. Ingredients: Directions: 1. 2. 3. Tips: *I used the Ghirardelli Candy Making Dipping Bar- both Double Chocolate and White flavors. *Have your own favorite cookie dough recipe?
Cheese Pinwheel Rolls Sooner or later, all my conversations inevitably turn to food. Don’t believe me? Call me up sometime and try to, say, sell me some insurance. I guarantee that before we get off the phone, I’ll be giving you my recipe for blackberry jam. I can’t help it. It’s just how I work. Perfect example: I was in a meeting a few weeks ago at the office. What was the best way to make them? Ah, the Frankenroll This recipe borrows heavily from two fairly unrelated things. To make these rolls, spread pizza dough liberally with melted butter, sprinkle it with cheese and spices, roll it up like a stromboli—then slice and bake like a pan of cinnamon buns. The result? Fill them however you like The best part about these rolls? This is what I always refer to as a Sliding-Scale Recipe. You can toss it together with a ball of pre-made dough and a bag of shredded cheese from the grocery store—or you can go all out and make the dough from scratch and grate your favorite cheeses by hand. Cheese Pinwheel Rolls
Inspiration and ideas of dessert recipes such as cupcakes and muffins, pies and cakes, cookies, biscuits and brownies A brownie by any other name… Love brownies. Love their shiny, flaky top that shatters into micro-thin shards that shower onto your fingers as you eat. Love their dark, gooey center. Their “chocolate nirvana” flavor. Sometimes can’t deal with the bake, wait to cool, cutting into squares messiness and fuss of brownies. Every time I make these cookies (which, truth be told, is quite often), I think of a former colleague, Ana, who left King Arthur last year in order to be a full-time mom to her 2-year-old twins. The test kitchen bakers loved Ana. Ana still visits occasionally, 2-year-olds in tow. And when she does, she’ll invariably nose out any chocolate, and treat us to her classic reaction: “Perfect! These cookies are basically brownies: flat, round, 2 ½” brownies. First task: Combine the chocolate and butter. Melt in the microwave till softened… …then stir till smooth. Stir the chocolate into eggs and sugar, which you’ve beaten together. Refrigerate the batter for an hour; it’ll stiffen up nicely. Buy vs.
100 Healthy Recipes for Lazy People June 10th, 2010 You've heard the hype about eating less fast food, but working in the kitchen may not be your favorite way to spend your time. Whether you are finishing up a long day at nursing school or would like a reference for clients who need to change the way they eat, hang on to this list of 100 healthy recipes that just about anyone can make. Appetizers These appetizers are full of healthy ingredients and take almost no time to make. Easy Guacamole. Meal Salads These salads make a healthy meal on their own or paired with bread and soup. Spring Chicken Salad. Vegetarian Vegetarian cooking doesn't have to be difficult, as these recipes demonstrate. Carrot-Mushroom-Barley Stew. Poultry Chicken and turkey are the stars of these simple, yet healthy, meals. Chicken Burritos. Fish and Seafood If you like fish and seafood but fear it is too complicated to make, check out these recipes that are not only easy, but nutritious as well. Tilapia with Green Beans. Lean Red Meat Chili-Rubbed Pork Chops.
Brazilian Lemonade This is my most favorite drink. Ever. Maybe I’d feel differently if I drank (as in alcohol), but there is nothing I love more than a warm, breezy afternoon and a pitcher of Brazilian lemonade. I didn’t try it for a long, long time because I was very put off by putting sweetened condensed milk in with citrus fruit. It seemed very wrong. It starts off with fresh, juicy limes. You pop them in a blender with some sugar water and pulse just a few times. Pour the mixture from the blender through a strainer and into a pitcher, thus saving all of the flavorful liquid. Then the secret ingredient: sweetened condensed milk. Brazilian LemonadeOur Best Bites Ingredients: 4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they’re the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter) 1 c. sugar 6 c. cold water 6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk Instructions: Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.
Cheddar Cheese Biscuits Cheese makes (almost) everything better. It’s one of the 10 commandments of The Hungry Mouse Test Kitchen. When I made these the other night, The Angry Chef told me that, hands down, it’s my best biscuit recipe. “Even better than my buttermilk biscuits?” I asked. “Yep, even better,” he told me. These biscuits are ridiculously easy to make. These biscuits are perfect for a leisurely weekend breakfast or brunch. Like I said, they’re really easy to make. Just toss the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, give ‘em a swirl, and drizzle in the cream and cheese. I cut my biscuits into squares—not rounds. If you wanted to go crazy, toss in a handful or two of crisp, crumbled bacon when you add the cheese. Cheddar Cheese Biscuits 3 cups flour 1 1/2 Tbls. baking powder 1 Tbls. sugar 2 tsp. kosher salt 2 1/2 cups heavy cream 1 3/4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated 4 Tbls. butter Yields about 16 large biscuits Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Make the biscuit dough Pour in the heavy cream. Enjoy!
Top 10 Best Novels of the Last 20 Years Books The ten novels on this list all substantiate the belief that books are the most elastic, introspective, human and entertaining form of media that exist. Not movies, not music, not art, not the theatre. Music for Torching by A.M. First Sentence: ”It is after midnight on one of those Friday nights when the guests have all gone home and the host and hostess are left in their drunkenness to try and put things right again.” As the only woman on the list, A. Homes makes this common enough theme of suburban ennui feel real with her shining prose, a secondary cast of interesting plots and characters, and lack of a fairy-tale ending. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (1996) First Sentence: “Tyler gets me a job as a waiter, after that Tyler’s pushing a gun in my mouth and saying, the first step to eternal life is you have to die.” Of course, Palahniuk had to be on this list. House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski (2000) The house is alive. We Don’t Live Here Anymore by Andre Dubus (2004) The Road
Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze I’m not exaggerating when I write that I have been thinking about making these cinnamon rolls for five months. After posting my Sweet Potato Pecan Cinnamon Rolls last November, I started brainstorming other varieties and carrot cake immediately came to mind. I waited all of these months to make these cinnamon rolls because for some reason I associate carrot cake with Spring. Is it the bunnies? Easter? Indisputably a healthier recipe than that of most cinnamon rolls, this one calls for whole wheat pastry flour, applesauce, and a low amount of sugar. I know the directions list looks a bit intimidating, but I assure you none of the steps are too difficult. … rolling the dough up nice & snug and nestling the cut pieces into a cake pan. It’s so rewarding to peek at the rolls an hour later and behold them in their puffed-up risen glory. Then they emerge golden and warm from the oven, perfuming the air with their intoxicating aroma. Then comes the cream cheese glaze. Boring, that’s what.
Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread I’m sorry. I know it’s Monday morning and you probably came here for some pretty pictures of food that you could glance at, and then move on with your day… and here I go thrusting warm, soft cinnamon sugar bread in your face. It’s not fair. I know it’s not fair. I know that now you’re craving cinnamon rolls, and cream cheese frosting and chili fries and hot dogs. You don’t deserve this sort of torture. This bread hits all the comfort spots in my soul. I’m sorry and you’re welcome and I love you. Let’s start at the beginning. I did this all without the use of a stand mixer and dough hook. This dough can be made and left to rise , then refrigerated overnight for use in the morning. This is the dough just before it’s left to rise. After the dough has rested and risen for an hour, I knead it in a few tablespoons of flour. This is the part in the bread process where you can wrap the dough and place it in the fridge to rest overnight. I worked with my dough right away. I can’t even deal.
25 Free Sites for Reading Books Online | AceOnlineSchools.com - Online Education Do you love to read but hate to walk or drive or rise from a prone position on your hammock? Well, if you have Internet access, you don’t have to! (Granted, if you only have a desktop computer, you’ll probably have to sit up.) With these 25 great sites, you have access to tens of thousands of books, plays, essays, poems and other written works in electronic form anytime for free! With the scanned documents, you can even enjoy the illustrations and the visual look and feel of the often historic works. The texts available are primarily older ones whose copyright protection has expired, and thus they’re now in the public domain, so don’t expect to find the latest Twilight book or anything like that. Alex Catalogue of Electronic Texts: Collects several thousand texts, mostly from Project Gutenberg (see below). Bartleby.com: Several hundred titles, featuring iconic texts like the Bible, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations and Gray’s Anatomy.