Let's Talk Cooking
Newsletter
For November, 2002
The
holiday season grows nearer. Here in the
For
the new subscribers, I am Shirley, my husband is Dwight and Dick is my
husband’s uncle who is an excellent cook and loves doing it. He provides lots of hints and recipes which I
like to include in the newsletter since he is such an important part of
it. I do the cooking, recipe testing,
shopping and the newsletter. In addition
I write most of the copy you see on the web page and in the front of our
cookbooks. Dwight is the one that set up
the web page, takes what I write and inserts it on the web site, does the
marketing, takes the pictures and makes everything work. He is my guru and without him there wouldn’t
be a web site or cookbooks. We all do a
tremendous amount of research and in most cases will not release a recipe to
the cookbook until it has been successfully tested.
Kitchen Hints by Dick
Glazing: Brushing foods with products like marmalades
or jellies is
a simple way to add flavor during the last few minutes of broiling. Chicken and
pork are especially good when paired with fruit glazes. Preserves and maple
syrup can also help create interesting new flavors. Remember that these
products have high sugar content and can quickly burn. Try pork with red
currant jelly, jalapeno jelly or orange marmalade. Chicken goes well with
apricot jelly or lemon marmalade.
Unsalted Butter: Are there any advantages to using unsalted
butter? Some cooks believe it is better to add salt to a dish as needed rather
than to be locked in on the salt content of an ingredient. Salt can also mask
the off flavor of butter that isn't at its freshest point. Because dessert
recipes use very little salt, using unsalted butter can definitely
help assure the desired end result.
Safely Cooling Foods: Foods that are prepared in large batches
(soups and stews) are especially susceptible to harmful spoilage. It is always
advisable to cool down the foods before placing them in the refrigerator. One
way to do this is to add ice to your sink (with the stopper in place). Place
the soup pot on the ice and add water to the sink (up about 3/4 of the side of
the pan). Add ice as needed. Stir the food frequently. When chilled cover and
refrigerate. Another way to quick chill is to transfer the soup or stew to a
shallow baking pan (like a lasagna dish) before refrigerating. This allows a
faster, safer cool down.
Glass Baking Pans: Glass pans used for baking allow foods to
brown quicker than the metal varieties. It is a good idea to lower the oven
temperature by 15 degrees to prevent over-browning. This may increase the
overall cooking time slightly. Most recipes give alternative tests for doneness
(firm center, lightly browned top, etc.) along with the estimated cooking time.
Napkin Folding: An attractively folded napkin can add a
distinctive touch
to any table. The "Your World at Home" Web site offers step-by-step
instructions on creating beautiful napkin presentations. Seven different styles
ranging from "Star-shaped Fan" to the "Maids Cup" are
featured here with easy to follow pictures.
Click here for more information.
http://www.ywh.com/Tips/Napkin/napkins.html
Shirley's
Helpful Hints
The website that
Dick recommended on napkin folding is really great and has easy-to-follow
instructions. Give it a try.
All About
When stuffing your holiday bird, try placing a piece of
cheesecloth inside the cavity before adding the stuffing. When you remove the cloth, all the stuffing
will come out at one time. Markets are
now selling a “stuffing sac,” but one sac costs more than enough cheesecloth
purchased in bulk to do 10 birds.
Dental floss (not the flavored kind) makes an excellent truss for
a fowl.
Dark meat turkey has a higher fat level, 4 grams of fat or more
per 3-1/2 ounces.
Never stuff a turkey or other fowl with warm stuffing and leave
overnight, even if refrigerated. Always
keep the stuffing separate and stuff before cooking.
Never leave gravy, stuffing or cooked fowl at room temperature for
more than 45 minutes before refrigerating.
Always defrost a frozen turkey in the refrigerator over a two to
three day period rather than leaving it out on the counter overnight.
When stuffing a turkey, try sealing the opening with a small raw
potato to keep stuffing from bursting out of the cavity.
To keep white meat on a turkey from drying out, try cooking the
turkey breast-side down, then turn it right-side up for the last hour. Juices will not buildup in this period of
time and the bird will be easy to turn, especially if you use a V-rack. This information comes from Kitchen Wisdom by
Dr. Myles H. Bader.
The safest poultry is kosher poultry. During processing, de-feathering takes place
in cold water only, never in hot or warm water.
Non-kosher fowl are always processed in water heated between 125 and 132
degrees which is when bacterial growth is at its highest level. The hot water opens the pores and allows
entry of every bit of undesirable matter that is floating in the hot bloody
water of the communal bath.
Kosher poultry is soaked and submerged for 30 minutes in very cold
water; then hand salted inside and out and allowed to hang for one hour to
remove any remaining blood. After
salting the birds, they are rinsed 3 separate times to remove all the salt.
The final results are a clean tasting bird and people who eat
regular fowl often will be able to tell the difference.
The Healing
Nutrients
Protein is vital for your health and lean meat is a nutritional
storehouse – in fact, it provides almost every nutrient your body needs. However, it is missing one important
ingredient – fiber. It is rich in trace
elements such as iodine, zinc. Manganese and selenium; meat is also an
invaluable source of all the B vitamins, including thiamin (vitamin B1),
riboflavin (B2), and niacin. Including a
small amount of meat in your meal also improves iron absorption from other
foods.
Chicken and turkey contain far less fat than other meats and most
of it is in the skin. These and other
types of poultry are excellent sources of protein as well as easily absorbed
iron and zinc. Poultry is rich in B
vitamins such as B6 which is essential for making red blood cells, maintaining
the nervous system, bolstering immunity and perhaps diminishing PMS symptoms;
niacin may help reduce cholesterol; B12 is essential for brain function – a
deficiency that can lead to memory loss and depression.
What is important is choosing meats with less than 25 to 30
percent fat; eating no more than 3 to 5 ounces of meat at a meal and preferably
no more than a few times a week; choosing organic or free-range meats when
possible to eliminate or reduce chemicals.
What isn’t important is removing all the fat from meat before
cooking. Trim excess fat, but don’t
worry about getting every little bit; just be sure not to eat it. Also not important is the avoidance of red
meat if you are watching your weight. A
3-ounce serving of beef tenderloin, for example, contains only 170
calories. So as the saying goes, “Don’t
sweat the small stuff.” Red meat is ok,
just don’t eat the fat or buy the heavily marbled meat.
Small Appliance
of the Month
A
few years back my husband and I decided to spend the holiday season in a warmer
climate so we took our motorhome to
Following
is the menu for our feast. With
Thanksgiving, certain things never change because they are part of the holiday
tradition. Fluffy mashed potatoes with
turkey gravy are a part of tradition and I will continue to show the same
recipes year after year. The turkey is always there, but may have variations in
the stuffing or the glaze. Cranberries
in one form or another will always be served.
Pumpkin pie is a necessity, but I’ve changed it slightly this year. Last year was an unbaked filling that is
great, but this year it is the traditional pie, but with the addition of a
streusel topping. Yams or sweet potatoes
are nice. I feel that a molded salad is
essential along with another salad.
Consider a couple of side dishes since people are picky about what
vegetables they will eat. The appetizer
is meant to be served with before dinner beverages while awaiting the feast,
not at the table. Here is the menu. I
hope you enjoy it.
Thanksgiving
Day Menu
Broccoli Dip in Round
Sourdough Loaf as Appetizer
Brined Roasted
Fluffy Mashed Potatoes and
Shrimp Salad
Relish Tray – Olives,
Pickles & Pickled Vegetables, etc.
Muffin Tin Snacks (for the
kids)
Cranberry
Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Harvard Beets
Butter Flake Rolls with
Butter
Apple Streusel Mince Pie
Pumpkin Pie with Streusel
Topping
Kahlua Parisian Coffee
The recipes were
available to those people who signed up for the monthly newsletter. You may subscribe to the newsletter and ask
for past newsletters. These recipes are
for sale and available in the various electronic cookbooks we have on the web
page. Click here to preview and order.
Gadget of the
Month
On any given holiday you are going to want to use whipped
cream. There is nothing worse than
having to remember to chill a bowl, chill the beaters, get out the mixer and
whip the cream just before serving dessert.
DON’T DO IT AND DON’T BUY THAT CANNED STUFF. Purchase a C02
Cream Whipper. This is the greatest
gadget since sliced bread. You pour the
whipping cream (a whole pint) into the container, add a little powdered sugar
and vanilla and screw on the top. Add
the CO2 charger, shake the container vigorously for a few seconds, press the
button and you have whipped cream. It
works just like the canned type and lasts just as long too. Be sure to keep refrigerated. Shake before each use. You can make this the morning of the dinner
and it is all ready to go. A sensible
Christmas gift too. Works great in the
above beverages too.
What Not to Buy
While shopping the other day we saw something that looked like a
yellow oval with lots of spikes - almost like a sea urchin. It was called kiwano. I had never heard of it or seen it. I asked the produce manager about it and he
hadn’t tried it. Well, we bought it to
the tune of $4.00. It was slightly soft
like you would buy a papaya. We cut it
open and it was segmented like a citrus fruit.
Let me tell you, there was little or no taste with almost a bitter
flavor. Don’t waste your money. I tell you this because I’m always telling
you to try new things. This isn’t one of
the things to try unless you have money to burn. They claimed it was refreshing and sweet, but
it sure wasn’t. Now maybe it is good if
you harvest it directly, but I don’t even know where it is grown. Certainly not in the
Recipe of the
Month
This
section of the newsletter is to try to familiarize you with some of the more
unusual fruits, vegetables or spices seen in the grocery store or market. I’m not including anything in this section
this month because there are so many recipes for the dinner. Watch for something next month.
In Closing: As always,
your comments would be welcome. For
those celebrating the holiday of thanks, have a nice celebration. From our kitchen to yours, good luck and good
cooking.
Shirley
Willard
Cooking With Shirley
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©
2002 by Shirley Willard all right reserved.