Food, Travel, and Cooking!
Knowing how to blanch vegetables is a very good thing for us cooks and is so useful in so many recipes. Fill a large pot with cold water; bring to a boil. Add 1 – 2 Tbsp. salt. Place the cut, trimmed veggies into the boiling water for 2 – 5 minutes, depending on the […]
Being able to turn out a decent pie crust is not that difficult, really! Follow these steps and I think you’ll like the results whether you’re a newbie or an old hand at pastry making. My Mom’s Pastry For Pie’s – For 2 or 3 Double Crust Pies, depending on the size of the pie pan. I […]
Just a simple, quick way to prepare a steak. The steak would be delicious served with a flavoured butter of Roquefort, gorgonzola, tarragon or parsley. A good steak deserves a simple treatment, it’s about the beef! Bone in porterhouse, T-Bone or rib steaks, 1” thick minimum EVO (opt.) Salt & freshly ground pepper (there are many […]
So simple to make but adds so much oomph to a piece of grilled fish, meats or poultry. Citrus & Mint Compound Butter for Fish 8 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature 1-2 tsp. each finely grated lemon, Meyer lemon if you can & orange peel Finely chopped mint, minced, to your taste Mix ingredients together. […]
I seem to use a lot of nuts in my cooking and baking so I thought I should include my methods for toasting them. Hazelnuts: Preheat oven to 275 F. Spread shelled nuts in a shallow baking pan and roast for 20 – 30 minutes, until the skins crack and the meat turns light gold. […]
Chicken, turkey, beef, veal, lamb and vegetetable stocks are like having gold in your freezer (well, not really, but you get my meaning I hope.) Normally I try to have a fair bit of chicken stock as I use that the most. And in the fall I will often pick up a large bag of […]
T Being able to enjoy a perfectly grilled/barbecued piece of meat, chicken or fish is the best! To test steaks and chops for doneness with an instant read thermometer, try inserting it sideways instead of from the top for a more accurate reading. Please, please, please don’t be tempted to cut into the meat to […]
You’ll find that Tuscan home cooks and chefs make an aromatic salt such as this one. It’s terrific on pork, chicken for starters. But experimentation is half the fun… You can reduce the recipe by half but it does store well in an airtight container in the fridge or you might want to share some […]
You’ll love that you can make your own homemade pasta, trust me! Years ago a neighbour loaned me her hand-crank pasta machine. I was a little nervous but the fettuccine turned out so well I was really impressed! This meant, that we had to rush out and get the machine! We used it for a […]
Somehow or other we always seem to be on a “quest” to find wonderful things that are made in the country where we are visiting. At times it can be crazy making and means doing “homework” before we leave on a trip. Because I enjoy this kind of research, it’s kind of fun for me. […]