Elementary Chef

Note: this post has been updated 10/23/06
When I was a kid growing up in the Detroit suburbs, there were two things you’d be most likely to put on a sandwich, or use to dress coleslaw or potato salad – mayonnaise (we pronounced it “manayse�) or Miracle Whip.

Most families were firm on which product they used. So much so, that I never used mayonnaise for anything until I got married and started experimenting with food. By the time my son was in his teens, and our house became the place to turn up when they were hungry for him and his friends, I kept both on hand. Even today there are strong preferences, and I use Miracle Whip for some things, and mayonnaise for others.

Lately, though, you may have noticed if you’re a Miracle Whip person, that your sandwiches don’t quite taste the same, and your coleslaw doesn’t hold up overnight. Read the rest of this entry »

Pepper is pretty much a universal spice. Even those who don’t care to use spices and herbs in cooking will usually use a bit of pepper. There are more than three kinds, to be sure (I can think of at least two others – pink and green – offhand) but these are the major ones.

White – I love white pepper in light-colored sauces. It’s not as hot as black pepper, but gives a bit of “bottom� to the flavor. Since light-colored sauces tend to be delicate, a little white pepper goes a long way. More in-depth info here.

Black – This is the most often used by anybody. The most familiar form is ground pepper in a little, square can you’ll find practically anywhere that sells food. Often you can find big packages at dollar stores and other discount outlets for rock-bottom prices. You can also buy cracked pepper, which is not as finely ground, or whole peppercorns for use in spice grinders. More in-depth info here.

Red – Cayenne pepper is the hottest of the bunch. The flavor is different, though, so you can add a tiny bit (a few grains) to a dish to add a bit of zest without too much heat. It is the basis for most “chili powder� blends. More in-depth info here.

When you’re buying pepper or any ground spice, you shouldn’t buy any more than you can use in a few months. Contact with air tends to evaporate the oils, which provide the flavor. The reason those big containers of pepper are so cheap at the discount outlets is that they’re close to their expiration date, so if you can’t use an 8 oz package of ground pepper within a few weeks, leave it on the shelf.

I misidentified our wine expert as he in yesterday’s post. This has been corrected. Sorry!

This reminds me of an e-mail discussion group I was in when I first went online in the 90s. One of our more active members in Europe was actually a girl and most of us thought otherwise. Until, that is, we got to know each other better. (Hard to get personal on some of those early lists, which often numbered their members in the thousands.) We spun off a smaller committee for one reason or another, and she was talking about her husband and kids one day. Roughly five years after the group started. There were a lot of red faces that day, I can tell you!

I look forward to this time of year, because here in Arizona, we have a brief window — about two weeks — when many varieties of cooking apples are available. Most of the time, all we get are Granny Smiths and Delicious. So I go nuts and make pies, dumplings, and mincemeat, and even try to freeze a few things! (Not much success with the freezing, though, usually everything I make gets eaten.)

One of the most frequently-asked questions on apple pies is this: why is it that a big pile of apples in a pie so often comes out with a big gap between fruit and crust?

Well, that’ s because those varieties of apples you use for baking have a lot of flavor that stand up well to heat, but the trade-off is that they cook down to mush. The way I avoid this is to use two kinds of apples, half “cooking” apples such as Macintosh or Jonathan, and half “eating ” apples, such as Red Delicious. The Red Delicious doesn’t have much flavor after cooking but maintains its volume. So the pie you put in the oven is the same pie you take out!

Now that there are going to be a confusing number of varieties of apples available, you might want to check these sites to see what kinds there are and what their best uses are.

Michigan apples

Maine apples

Washington apples

New York apples

Most states do produce some apples, but depending on where you live, these states distribute a significant amount to the nationwide market. If you live in the west, you’re most likely to have Washington apples, in the east, Maine or Michigan. I still think Michigan apples are the best, but I haven’t seen any for some time (sigh.)

The sum total of my knowledge of wine would fit on a 3×5 card.

Red goes with meat, white goes with chicken and fish, rose goes with everything.

Wine doesn’t work well with salad.

If it comes in a bottle with a cork, it’s probably better stuff than the kind that comes in a box.

So if you want to know about wines, you’d do well to check out Farley’s blog. She’s our resident oenophile here at 451, and really knows her stuff!

I bet she even knows where I could find a recipe I’ve been wanting to duplicate for years.

Many years ago, my brother, the professional chef, made a casserole using leftover pork and a white sauce made with half&half and wine. It was wonderful! But neither one of us remembers what wine he used.

Check out an adventure with cranberries at Parenting Our Children.

Cake’s the theme at Lil Duck Duck.

I’ll add more as they come in!

I used to have a blog about media, blogging, and a variety of other things. Most of my readers were writers, though, and on Wednesday I always had features for and about writers and writing.

I’m going to adapt this tradition for Basic Cooking. On Wednesdays, I’ll post a food story — something about a kitchen disaster, or maybe where stuff comes from, things like that. I’ll also point to good stories involving food, and blogs and websites I’ve discovered.

If you’ve got a food story or great website to share, please leave a note in the comments section or e-mail me here: twschuettATpeoplepcDOTcom

I’m a frequent watcher of TV cooking shows. I found out the hard way that sometimes details get lost in the translation; for instance the amount of something you end up with when a making a recipe in the real world.

I had a recipe for Triple Chocolate Cookies. They were chocolate cookies using both baking chocolate and cocoa with chocolate chips. I watched Marcel DeSaulnier on TV make them, and thought they were perfect to send to some friends, with enough left over for us, too.

To be on the safe side, I doubled the recipe.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was once horrified at the very idea of an appliance that cooked anything in 30 seconds. I’ve since changed my tune, and now I wouldn’t be without a microwave as basic kitchen equipment.

Probably the most important thing you need to know is that they are not all the same. Their cooking power ranges from 700 to 1500 watts, and this can make a big difference in the way things turn out. If your microwave doesn’t say on it somewhere what the wattage is (or you just can’t find it) you can check the manufacturer’s website and find out.

Like the traditional stove, if you’ve still got the book that came with it, it’s a good idea to read it.

Once you get past the basic popcorn, heating water for tea, and warming up frozen dinners, there’s still plenty you can do.

A microwave is great for making pudding and sauces of all kinds, saving you the need to stand at the stove and stir for ages.

I really like the way fish turns out, too.

You might want to check out a microwave cookbook or two from your local library to see all the things you can make in a hurry.

Just keep in mind that things really won’t brown, but in an emergency you can actually bake cakes or even bread in a microwave, if the lack of any kind of crust is not important.

Years ago, we were helping some friends move. When we got to the old house, I went to the kitchen and offered to start packing the spices. My friend gave me a funny look and handed me a shoebox that contained salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion salt, and Worcestershire sauce. That was all she had.

For some people, that’s enough, but even in those days I had a cupboard set aside for spices, herbs, and flavorings of all kinds. There are way too many of these for one blog post, so I’ll just get started here with my favorite.

Some people use so much garlic it’s practically considered a vegetable. I’m not naming names here, all I’ll say is that somebody’s husband knows if she’s making spaghetti the minute he gets out of the car when he comes home ;>).

It comes in fresh, powdered, granulated, and liquid forms. Sometimes the terms granulated and powder are interchangeable, but sometimes you find a powder that is just like talcum. That kind doesn’t keep well, especially in damp climates, and it’s too easy to use way too much. Whether the label says granulated or powdered, look at it and see if it looks grainy. That’s the kind you want.

I keep some fresh and some granulated on hand, because they have different uses. If I’m making a salad dressing or garlic bread, then I use the granulated.

For sauce, soups and stews, I prefer the fresh. The taste is noticeably different. For example, I make a garlic whipped cream for pork (also goes well on chicken fried steak) that would not work at all with the granulated.

Now, if you’ve ever wondered what a garlic press is for, here’s your answer! It’s for squeezing out a bit of the juice for something you don’t want any bits of garlic floating around in. Like this quick recipe:

Garlic Whipped Cream

½ pint whipping cream (NOT the sweetened kind)

Juice from one clove garlic

Using an electric mixer, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Press your garlic over the bowl, allowing the juice to mix in.

Serve immediately. This cannot be made ahead, as it goes flat fairly quickly. It does make for a pretty presentation, with an artful glob sprinkled with parsley on individual servings of pork loin or chicken fried steak.

Note on using fresh garlic: Cut the clove in half first, and see if there’s a green sprout in the middle. If so, pick it out with the tip of a paring knife. That green bit makes the flavor unpleasantly bitter.

There are several kinds of salt, and they all have different uses.

Table salt
Kosher salt
Coarse salt
Rock salt
Sea salt
Seasoned salt Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes a recipe will say: “preheat oven to 375 degrees.�  Or whatever temp the recipe calls for. Guess what? You don’t always have to do that. If you’re roasting a turkey, making a meatloaf, or something where the temperature isn’t critical, then you can skip the pre-heat.

If you’re baking a cake, bread, or cookies, you want the oven right at the suggested temperature. The cake and bread need the heat to rise, the cookies are in the oven only a short time, and you risk burning them or undercooking.

You can also save energy and time by cooking all the elements of a meal in the oven at the same time. Just keep in mind the times they need to cook will not be the same, and do the math.

The Carnival of the Recipes is a great way for newbie cooks to get acquainted with a variety of ideas. This carnival runs weekly, and bloggers of all kinds contribute their own favorites. The big advantage for you here is that if there’s a question you have about a recipe, you can contact the author direct and ask!

Here’s this week’s announcement from Shawn Lea: Read the rest of this entry »

The second most important thing about using a recipe is: do what it says. Most kitchen disasters come from not following the recipe. You can’t always leave something out or substitute ingredients and have the dish come out the way it should. Leave the experimenting for after you’ve tried it at least once.

One thing people have trouble with is interpreting the abbreviations and terms. A small “t� or tsp means teaspoon, an uppercase “T� or tbl means tablespoon. Both “c� and “C� mean cup. A dash (like Tabasco) is generally a few drops, a pinch (like salt) the amount you can grasp between your thumb and finger.

A cook book will often have a glossary of terms or an explanation of abbreviations.

When they talk about spoon measures, they’re referring to a spoon in a set of measuring spoons. It really doesn’t work to use teaspoons and soup spoons from your silverware drawer. A teaspoon from a tableware set can be anything from ½ a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half.

So do yourself a favor and pick up a set of measuring spoons, and while you’re at it, cup measures at the dollar store. Guaranteed you’ll save yourself some aggravation!

Today’s recipes are much improved over those from days past, which makes cooking much less an exercise in trial-and-error, and more one of following directions. If you read the whole recipe, and then do what it says, you’re well on the road to a good meal.

Most people have both a regular stove and a microwave, some will also have a convection oven.

If you go into an appliance store, there will be a mind-blowing variety of cooktops, ovens, and microwaves in all kinds of configurations. We’ll work with what you’ve already got, though, because the same set of rules apply to most.

Right now let’s talk about traditional stoves and ovens.

You might be lucky enough to have the owner’s manual around, so it’s a good idea to read it, if you’ve got it. Most manufacturers of this kind of equipment also have the owner’s manuals available online for more-recent models, if you really want to find one. There might be some unusual features you’ve wondered about, so that’s a good place to start in that case.

If you’re used to nuking everything, what you’ll find with standard stoves is that cooking most things with them takes longer. It takes about 20 minutes at 350 degrees to heat up leftover pizza, but things like pasta (boiling noodles by themselves) takes about the same amount of time.

Like many things in life there’s a trade-off. Pizza and bread items taste much better heated in a traditional oven; other things benefit from the range of temperatures you can get from a traditional stove. It may well be worth the time.

Read the rest of this entry »