To honor National Grilled Cheese Day, I thought I would talk about cheese and the process of making cheese. With over a dozen organic dairy farms making cheese in South Carolina alone, it has become more easily accessible. Specialty and small farm brands can be ordered online. What is cheese? Cheese can be broken down into two broad categories, fresh and ripened. Within these two categories are a multitude of subdivisions, usually classified according to the texture of the cheese and how it was made. Some of these categories can overlap because cheese can have an entirely different character when young than it does when aged. Most cheese begins as…
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Cooking From A Recipe
When deciding what to prepare for dinner, I usually assess what ingredients I have in the kitchen and find a corresponding recipe. I hate anything to go to waste. Although I try to pre-schedule meals and make my shopping list accordingly, at the beginning of the week, somehow a wrench is always thrown in my wheel. Professional chefs suggest conjuring up my own recipes, I tend to stick to reliable sources; my mom’s recipe books or America’s Test Kitchen. After preparing a GOOD recipe a time or two, I might throw my own spin on things. Here are few suggestions when you are cooking from a recipe. Build your…
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Top 5 Essential Tools for Easter Ham
Hope you read yesterday’s post on how to thaw, prepare and roast your Easter ham? Today, I will list my top five essential tools for cooking and serving your Easter Ham. 5. Rimmed sheet pan with a cooling rack – pictured is my very reliable, durable “Lincoln Food Service” half-sized heavy duty sheet pan. Lightly colored, so it heats and browns evenly. It is 18″ x 26″ and I own four. Two for home use and two for barbecue competitions. http://www.amazon.com/12-0417-LINCOLN-FOODSERVICE-ROASTING-BAKING/dp/B001J87PY6/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1458750005&sr=8-4&keywords=lincoln+foodservice+pan 4. Slicing knife – this is the Victorinox Fibrox 12-inch Granton Edge Slicing Knife, evaluated by America’s Test Kitchen’s as a best bet, it has a tapered 12-inch…
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Properly Storing FRESH Herbs At Home
These days, home cooks can buy fresh herbs at their local supermarket. Most retailers sell cilantro, flat leaf parsley, curly leaf parsley, basil and thyme. Always buy the freshest bunch. Try smelling them. Fresh herbs should have a strong, fresh aroma. The leaves should look clean, green and crisp. Once home, do not clean them right away. Water on the leaves creates a home for mold and the plant will deteriorate much faster with damp leaves. Instead, wait till just prior to use, before rinsing them – but RINSE them before consumption. Some “food writers” recommend cutting the tips of the stems off before storing them; however, I have never…
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My TOP 5 Kitchen Tools
These are the TOP 5 work horses in MY kitchen, the tools I cannot live without. Let me know if you agree or list YOUR top 5 kitchen work horses in the comments. #5 – Boos cutting board – this one is 18″x24″x1 1/2″ and sits next to my cook top. I use it to chop all vegetables and herbs, (I use a plastic cutting board for raw meat). Treating it monthly with mineral oil, it will last a very, very long time. http://www.johnboos.com/Items_page.asp?s=r&SalesCode=&Prod=1&Page=6&Group=15&hdg=Cherry%20R-Board%201-1/2%22%20Thick%20-%20Reversible%20%20&nsf=False&nsfc=False&csa=False #4 – 2 qt. All-Clad sauce pan – it high sides and durability makes it useful for everything from making sauces to reheating leftovers. All-Clad says…
