What I do know is that you should have a serrated knife for cutting breads,
A plain-edge blade is better than serrated for cutting bread as long as you keep it sharp enough.
This is the best bread knife in the world. Pure Komachi by Kai 8-Inch Stainless-Steel Bread Knife We have one, and it is so great. Don't let the fact that the knife looks ugly turn you away. it's serrated, but in a unique way. Most serrated knives are just sort of pointy so they scratch away the bread and get crumbs everywhere. This knife is serrated finely in both directions. It makes minimal crumbs, and it cuts the bread with perfect smoothness.
Mix 2 cups of frozen (or 5 ears fresh) corn, 6 cups of low-sodium chicken broth, and 1/4 cup of sake in a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
While the soup base is cooking, dice about 8 ounces of firm tofu into small cubes. Next, put about 4 ounces of boneless, skinless chicken breast into a food processor and chop it into a coarse paste. Mix 3 tbsp. of water and 3/4 tsp of sesame oil into the chicken. The recipe said to mix it in the food processor, but my food processor is small, so I mixed it in the bowl and it turned out fine.
After 30 minutes, strain the corn out of the soup base.
Puree the corn, then add it back in. Scoop the chicken into the soup base, stirring with a whisk after each spoonful. Cook on medium heat until it comes to a boil. Turn the heat back to low and add the tofu.
Once the tofu is hot, add about 1 and 1/4 tsp of salt.
Spoon 1 cup of soup into a bowl and garnish with flat-leaf parsley.
The verdict: It tasted really good, but I won't puree the corn if I make it again. It gave it a wierd texture that I didn't much care for.
The vast majority of cutting jobs in the kitchen require only a chef's knife (or a santoku; they're close enough that you could use either). If you're serious about cooking, it's worth your while to pay the money for a forged chef's knife. Beware of stamped blades, as they're nowhere near as good. I use this Henckel 8" chef's knife. It's not the fanciest one you can get, but it's reasonably priced and very reliable. Make sure you get a honing steel and learn to use it correctly; YouTube will help you with this. Avoid blocks or other knife sets, as they invariably contain more knives than you will use. Unless you know what you're doing, don't attempt to sharpen your knives yourself; have it done professionally.
A knife is no good without a cutting board. Cut on a good high-density polyethylene board or a dense wooden board. NEVER cut on glass or marble. It's the fastest way to ruin your knife forever.
That onion cutting video may be fast, but that guy isn't quite doing it properly. You should always use a knife by cutting in two directions simultaneously; as in, you should be cutting down and pushing forward at the same time, with a steady rhythm; that's chopping. You can also cut down and draw towards you; that's slicing. Going straight down with most knives is doable, but it's generally easier to go in two directions.
In addition to a chef's knife, you should probably have a paring knife; that can be a pretty cheap stamped blade. The chef's knife is the only thing you should really spend money on.
I actually need to get a good knife for dealing with bones and large cuts.
Tongs are a necessity, but that goes without saying.
I successfully made beef wellington last Friday. Here it is in all its glory: I fucked up the bottom crust, but I know precisely what went wrong. It still tasted amazing.
I actually need to get a good knife for dealing with bones and large cuts.
Tongs are a necessity, but that goes without saying.
I successfully made beef wellington last Friday. Here it is in all its glory: I fucked up the bottom crust, but I know precisely what went wrong. It still tasted amazing.
Here are the photos of the cookies I made today. I usually use the Toll House recipe on the back of the bag of chips, but I tried something different today. I used this recipe for big cookies, which is the most popular on cookie-recipes.net.
An interesting thing is that this recipe called for two whole eggs and two egg yolks. I had never separated egg white and egg yolk before, so I wasn't sure what to do. You know in movies and TV when someone is pouring the egg back and forth between the two halves of the shell? That's what you do. I did it, and it worked perfectly. I had two yolks in a bowl and two whites in the sink. One of the yolks broke after I put it in the bowl, which was sad because I couldn't get the nice picture of two solid yolks.
I made brownies from scratch today, but didn't think to get pictures before they were done. They turned out fantastically though, so I'll be making them again.
And yeah, using the shell to separate egg-whites works better than any other method.
I used to make chicken parmesan for dinner all the time, but it's been a long while. I made it last night. Here is the Flickr set, and here's a picture of the finished product.
I use the exact same containers to store flour, sugar, and so forth.
My mom has older tupperware from back in the day. Her sugar container has a scoop, just like the one on the Rasin Bran box. One day it will be mine.
Wait a minute... you are looking forward to inheriting a piece of Tupperware?
There are other unique kitchen implements besides the Tupperware. Notable items include a lettuce bowl, a grilled-cheese clamp, and an electric mixer that is older than I am.
"...And she sat her son down in the magnificent kitchen and said, 'One day, son, all this shall be yours. Gaze upon this plastic sugar scoop in all its glory and splendor...' "
Hey, quality cookware is a thing to be excited about. I just bought an All-Clad Copper Core 10" fry pan. One day, I hope to have grandchildren fighting over it after I die.
Hey, quality cookware is a thing to be excited about. I just bought an All-Clad Copper Core 10" fry pan. One day, I hope to have grandchildren fighting over it after I die.
Among the men of my family, one's kitchen knives are prized things. While I am fond of my knives (Which i had to leave in Australia, for now) I still look forward to the day when I get my father's knives. He has a green river knife that's been in the family for generations, and is still used regularly.
Edit - I've got a Chinese-style cleaver that's one of the finest knives i've ever owned, a 12 inch chef's blade, a 7 inch straight edge, a 6 inch sushi knife, a paring knife, a bread knife and a Claw knife. I have a smaller set of Blades in my bar kit - A 7 inch chef's knife, a 6 inch sushi knife, a bread knife, a claw and a small straight-edge knife, for delicate garnishes. All of them are sharp enough to shave with, and they're all well taken care of.
Hey, quality cookware is a thing to be excited about. I just bought an All-Clad Copper Core 10" fry pan. One day, I hope to have grandchildren fighting over it after I die.
Among the men of my family, one's kitchen knives are prized things. While I am fond of my knives (Which i had to leave in Australia, for now) I still look forward to the day when I get my father's knives. He has a green river knife that's been in the family for generations, and is still used regularly
I made vegetable sambal today (the recipe said "spicy," but since I left out the spiciest ingredients, it wasn't spicy at all).
Here's the basic progression:
As an aside: The woman who wrote the cookbook must have teenage boys. That or she lives in a lumberjack camp. I got way more than six servings out of the ingredients.
For my first foray into cooking, I tried to make a lobster bisque followed with a delicate poussin in a light remoulade with truffle butter followed by a chocolate raspberry layered cake with fondant.
Adam, don't sell yourself short! You went from overcooking eggs and ramen when we first got together to making miso soup from scratch when I was sick last year. You also make one mean sammich and salad! ^_~
Scott's chicken parmesan was less than appetizing, so I decided to show how one should really cook it.
Panko bread crumbs are the key. They are flaky and provide maximum crunch when fried. Ideally, one would use fresh basil instead of pesto, but the store was out when I went this afternoon. The cheeses (from left to right) are fresh mozzarella (diced), parmesan, and provolone.
You need to pound out the chicken breasts so they are about half an inch thick, this makes it easier to get a nice even fry and provide more surface area for the toppings.
Salt and pepper the breasts. Then flour them (I prefer sifting to dredging as it's cleaner and you don't waste as much flour), egg and cover with the bread crumbs. When you prep your bread crumbs, add some parmesan and mix it in. Parmesan gets nice and crunchy when you fry it. Additionally, let them rest for about 15 minutes to let the coating set before frying.
Fry about three minutes on each side. The point is not to cook the meat, but create the crust surrounding the breast.
The next steps are very important. First you will want to coat the top of the breast with a layer of sauce. Don't drown them in sauce, otherwise it will get super soggy. Then place your cubed mozzarella.
On this step you would want to lay your freshly chopped basil, but I had to do with some pesto instead.
Then layer your provolone and then finally the parmesan on top. Cook in a 450 degree oven for 15-20 minutes...
or until beautiful.
JUST LIKE MAMA!
Make some nice tea and some salad. Today's selection is Jasmine Green Tea Pearls with Tropical rooibos blended.
I should've taken pictures as I was making it, but in the crock pot right now, I've got some black bean, beef, and chorizo chili cooking up. Smells amazing.
Scott's chicken parmesan was less than appetizing, so I decided to show how one should really cook it.
I thought the same thing with the last shot, I've got to say you're pictures started the cephalic phase of digestion as I scrolled down the page.
I'm going to devote almost half a day tomorrow to make a large serving of crackled roast pork loin with an accompaniment of pan cooked globe artichokes.
In the US is it hard to get fresh herbs from the supermarkets or just expensive?
Comments
Mix 2 cups of frozen (or 5 ears fresh) corn, 6 cups of low-sodium chicken broth, and 1/4 cup of sake in a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
While the soup base is cooking, dice about 8 ounces of firm tofu into small cubes. Next, put about 4 ounces of boneless, skinless chicken breast into a food processor and chop it into a coarse paste. Mix 3 tbsp. of water and 3/4 tsp of sesame oil into the chicken. The recipe said to mix it in the food processor, but my food processor is small, so I mixed it in the bowl and it turned out fine.
After 30 minutes, strain the corn out of the soup base.
Puree the corn, then add it back in. Scoop the chicken into the soup base, stirring with a whisk after each spoonful. Cook on medium heat until it comes to a boil. Turn the heat back to low and add the tofu.
Once the tofu is hot, add about 1 and 1/4 tsp of salt.
Spoon 1 cup of soup into a bowl and garnish with flat-leaf parsley.
The verdict: It tasted really good, but I won't puree the corn if I make it again. It gave it a wierd texture that I didn't much care for.
The vast majority of cutting jobs in the kitchen require only a chef's knife (or a santoku; they're close enough that you could use either). If you're serious about cooking, it's worth your while to pay the money for a forged chef's knife. Beware of stamped blades, as they're nowhere near as good. I use this Henckel 8" chef's knife. It's not the fanciest one you can get, but it's reasonably priced and very reliable. Make sure you get a honing steel and learn to use it correctly; YouTube will help you with this. Avoid blocks or other knife sets, as they invariably contain more knives than you will use. Unless you know what you're doing, don't attempt to sharpen your knives yourself; have it done professionally.
A knife is no good without a cutting board. Cut on a good high-density polyethylene board or a dense wooden board. NEVER cut on glass or marble. It's the fastest way to ruin your knife forever.
That onion cutting video may be fast, but that guy isn't quite doing it properly. You should always use a knife by cutting in two directions simultaneously; as in, you should be cutting down and pushing forward at the same time, with a steady rhythm; that's chopping. You can also cut down and draw towards you; that's slicing. Going straight down with most knives is doable, but it's generally easier to go in two directions.
In addition to a chef's knife, you should probably have a paring knife; that can be a pretty cheap stamped blade. The chef's knife is the only thing you should really spend money on.
I'd also highly recommend a pair of heavy duty kitchen scissors to cut wires, cords, small leafed herbs, branches, toothpicks, some deboning, etc.
Tongs are a necessity, but that goes without saying.
I successfully made beef wellington last Friday. Here it is in all its glory:
I fucked up the bottom crust, but I know precisely what went wrong. It still tasted amazing.
I have an experiment in mind that I'm going to try. I'm not sure what I'm going to call it, but basically, I want to make a lamb, red cabbage, and carrot dish that starts as a sauté and ends with a light braising in a bit of dry mead. I'm thinking of seasoning with ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. I'll post more once I actually pull it together.
An interesting thing is that this recipe called for two whole eggs and two egg yolks. I had never separated egg white and egg yolk before, so I wasn't sure what to do. You know in movies and TV when someone is pouring the egg back and forth between the two halves of the shell? That's what you do. I did it, and it worked perfectly. I had two yolks in a bowl and two whites in the sink. One of the yolks broke after I put it in the bowl, which was sad because I couldn't get the nice picture of two solid yolks.
Here is the abridged version of the photo set.
I made brownies from scratch today, but didn't think to get pictures before they were done. They turned out fantastically though, so I'll be making them again.
And yeah, using the shell to separate egg-whites works better than any other method.
"...And she sat her son down in the magnificent kitchen and said, 'One day, son, all this shall be yours. Gaze upon this plastic sugar scoop in all its glory and splendor...' "
Edit - I've got a Chinese-style cleaver that's one of the finest knives i've ever owned, a 12 inch chef's blade, a 7 inch straight edge, a 6 inch sushi knife, a paring knife, a bread knife and a Claw knife. I have a smaller set of Blades in my bar kit - A 7 inch chef's knife, a 6 inch sushi knife, a bread knife, a claw and a small straight-edge knife, for delicate garnishes. All of them are sharp enough to shave with, and they're all well taken care of.
Here's the basic progression:
As an aside: The woman who wrote the cookbook must have teenage boys. That or she lives in a lumberjack camp. I got way more than six servings out of the ingredients.
Panko bread crumbs are the key. They are flaky and provide maximum crunch when fried. Ideally, one would use fresh basil instead of pesto, but the store was out when I went this afternoon. The cheeses (from left to right) are fresh mozzarella (diced), parmesan, and provolone.
You need to pound out the chicken breasts so they are about half an inch thick, this makes it easier to get a nice even fry and provide more surface area for the toppings.
Salt and pepper the breasts. Then flour them (I prefer sifting to dredging as it's cleaner and you don't waste as much flour), egg and cover with the bread crumbs. When you prep your bread crumbs, add some parmesan and mix it in. Parmesan gets nice and crunchy when you fry it. Additionally, let them rest for about 15 minutes to let the coating set before frying.
Fry about three minutes on each side. The point is not to cook the meat, but create the crust surrounding the breast.
The next steps are very important. First you will want to coat the top of the breast with a layer of sauce. Don't drown them in sauce, otherwise it will get super soggy. Then place your cubed mozzarella.
On this step you would want to lay your freshly chopped basil, but I had to do with some pesto instead.
Then layer your provolone and then finally the parmesan on top. Cook in a 450 degree oven for 15-20 minutes...
or until beautiful.
JUST LIKE MAMA!
Make some nice tea and some salad. Today's selection is Jasmine Green Tea Pearls with Tropical rooibos blended.
Now you have the perfect chicken parmesan.
I'm going to devote almost half a day tomorrow to make a large serving of crackled roast pork loin with an accompaniment of pan cooked globe artichokes.
In the US is it hard to get fresh herbs from the supermarkets or just expensive?