Monday, March 10, 2014

Make Your Own... part 2

It can be easy and fun to make your own cooking products.  Here are a few goodies that anyone can make, use and enjoy.

 Whipped Cream
If you have never tasted fresh whipped cream, you have to try this, just so you can taste the difference.  All you need is heavy whipping cream and a bit of sugar.  The colder your cream is, the more easily it will whip, so keep the cream refrigerated until you are ready to mix it up.  When you're ready to whip, place one cup of heavy cream in a chilled bowl.  Using an electric mixer, beat cream on high speed until it begins to thicken.  You will notice the mixer begin to leave waves in the top of the cream.  Continue mixing for another minute or so.  Add two tablespoons of sugar and continue to beat on high speed until you have achieved the desired consistency.  Finished whipped cream should be smooth and easily hold it's shape.  Make your whipped cream even tastier by adding extra flavors like vanilla (mix in a tbsp of vanilla extract when you add the sugar), coffee (add 2 tsp of espresso powder and a bit less sugar than usual), or mint (soak 1/4 cup fresh mint in heavy cream for up to 12 hours, remove and discard mint, whip the cream as previously directed).

Roasted Peppers
This is something that I never tried until recently and now I absolutely love making them.  Practically any type of peppers can be roasted and doing this will bring out an extra sweetness in your peppers that you otherwise would not taste.  I like to roast poblanos and red bell peppers, but you can use any kind you like (I wouldn't recommend roasting anything smaller than a habanero, as the smaller the pepper, the harder it will be to peel).  If roasting in the oven, begin by preheating your oven to 400.  Place peppers to be roasted on a baking sheet lined with foil.  When oven is hot, place baking sheet on the lower rack and use tongs to turn the peppers every 10-15 minutes as they roast.  Allow peppers to roast for 40-50 minutes total, then remove baking sheet from oven.  Immediately fold foil from the baking sheet up around the peppers to form a pouch and fold edges up tight to steam the peppers as they cool.  Allow peppers to steam for 30 minutes, then open the foil pouch.  At this point, your peppers should be cool enough to handle and you will want to pull off the stem and begin to peel off the outer layer of skin from the roasted peppers, exposing the soft, thicker under layer.  Once peppers are peeled, you can slice them and remove the seeds if you like, or keep peppers whole.  You can use roasted peppers immediately, or store them in a jar with enough olive oil to keep them submerged.  To use, chop peppers and add them to chili, stew, baked beans, slow-cooker meals, stir-fry, veggie pasta dishes, fajita filling, or even use them to top a pizza!  Peppers can also be roasted on the grill over a medium flame - instructions will be the same, except you will place the peppers directly on the grill and turn ever 5 minutes, as they will only take 15-20 minutes to roast.  When finished roasting, steam and peel the same as oven roasted peppers.
Enjoy!

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Make Your Own... part 1

It can be easy and fun to make your own cooking products.  Here are a few goodies that anyone can make, use and enjoy.

Bread Crumbs
If you use bread crumbs in any of your cooking, you will love this because it means never buying them again.  Anytime you have bread that you're not going to use before it goes bad (part of a homemade loaf, the heal of a store bought loaf, etc.), simply tear it up into small pieces and lay it out in any flat container, such as a baking sheet or Tupperware lid.  Let the pieces sit out, uncovered, for at least 2-3 days and try to stir them around once, or twice a day.  Once the crumbs are completely dried out and larger pieces are crumbly, transfer them to a food processor, or blender and pulse until they are ground to your desired size and consistency.  If you do not have a food processor, or blender you can crush the crumbs by hand with any hard kitchen item - I like to use the top of my butter dish turned upside down!  Once the crumbs are crushed, store them in a jar or airtight containers for use anytime.  (Add a  generous sprinkle of Italian seasoning to make Italian bread crumbs!)

 Infused Olive Oil
This is so easy and so useful...  People pay a lot of money for flavored olive oil, but you can make your own with practically no effort.  Gather your olive oil (any type you want to use is fine), your herbs (preferably dried) and a jar/bottle (you can use the bottle the oil came in if you want).  Using dry herbs instead of fresh will prevent bacteria from growing in your oil and the oil will stay good for a longer amount of time.  The tastiest infused olive oil I've sampled was jalapeno garlic mixed with orange - it was amazing!  You shouldn't use more than two flavors in one bottle, but you can always combine different infused oils later.  A few great flavors I would recommend are chili oil (cut the tops off of some dried Thai chilies, or any other small spicy peppers), garlic-basil (dry out some fresh, whole basil leaves and use fresh, peeled garlic cloves) and citrus (remove the peel from two oranges, or lemons).  To infuse the olive oil, simply add your flavoring items to your bottle of oil and seal up tight for 24-48 hours.  If using peppers, add the whole thing; if using orange, or lemon, use the peel.  When your oil is done, remove the flavoring items by passing oil through a strainer, or sifter and return oil to the bottle to store for use.




Saturday, March 1, 2014

Fresh Flavors

There are many things that you can do to add extra flavor to a dish, but few things make the kind of difference that these fresh ingredients do...

Basil
Fresh basil is such a fantastic herb.  You can buy if fresh from most grocery stores, or you can easily grow your own.  I usually buy it as I need it and always look for bright green leaves.   Fresh basil has such a sweet, delicious smell - I absolutely love it!  
Add a ton of extra flavor to your pizza by tearing up a few fresh basil leaves and spreading them on top of the cheese.  Fresh basil is also a great addition to Thai food such as spicy curries and stir-fry dishes.  Basil goes well with strawberries, so I definitely recommend adding a couple of fresh leaves to your next strawberry lemonade.  Next time you are looking for a new cocktail to order/make, try a Basil Gimlet, or a Gin Basil Smash - I just discovered these drinks in the last year and they are my new favorites!  Adding fresh basil to a drink will give it a great light flavor.


Pineapple
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love pineapple.  It's good cold, it's good warm, it's good with spice, it's good with any meal of the day, or alone as a snack.  Always buy fresh pineapple.  Once you know the sweet goodness that is fresh pineapple, you will never buy the canned stuff again.  Cutting apart a fresh pineapple is surprisingly easy, but if you don't want to deal with the carving, many grocery stores sell fresh pineapple that is already cut up in disposable containers with the other fresh produce.
Next time you're grilling burgers, slice up some fresh pineapple and throw it on the grill for a few minutes, then use it to top off your burger along with some lettuce and tomato.  If you ever make spicy stir-fry, or fried rice, cut up some chunks of fresh pineapple and mix them in with your meat and veggies.  Crush some pineapple in a bowl, or ziplock bag and add it to hot dogs or pizza.  Add some cilantro and minced spicy peppers (such as habanero, or chilies) to make an incredibly flavorful and fresh sweet and spicy salsa for fish, chicken, or any other dish.

Lemon & Lime
In my opinion, lemon and lime are two of the freshest scents/flavors out there.  You can, of course, purchase those little bottles of lemon and lime juice, but it never compares to the fresh stuff.  When you pick out fresh lemons and limes, look for brightly colored fruit that is not too hard, or too soft.  They will last for quite a while once you bring them home, so you don't have to be in a hurry to use them.
I love to add fresh lemon juice and zest to light dishes, like angel hair pasta with seafood or chicken.  You can make a simple, flavorful sauce to toss with your pasta, using only a few ingredients, such as white wine, olive oil, a bit of flour and fresh lemon.  Keep limes around to add fresh zest and juice to fruit salad.  This will not only add extra flavor, but the juice will help your fruit last longer.  Lime goes well with cilantro (another great fresh flavor) and both are common ingredients in Thai and Hispanic dishes.  If you are going to be cooking meat for one of these types of meals, marinate the meat in lime juice for a bit before before cooking it - for dishes like tacos, I like to mix up lime juice, cilantro, a bit of tequila and any type of minced, spicy peppers to marinate my chicken, shrimp, or whatever protein I happen to be using.  When your dish is complete, top it off with a squirt of fresh lime juice.