May 12th, 2012 |
Author: Jessica | Filed under: Entertaining, food/recipes, our house
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I think I realized I was an adult when I stopped wanting to go to the bar every weekend, paying someone else money for a few cocktails, and started to want to stay at our house and make our own. It stays fun by inviting people over to enjoy those drinks with you. Add some good food, and fun will surely ensue.
Simply Lemonade, Blueberry Vodka, Blueberries. Boom.
We had leftover lemonade from a presentation we had earlier in the day down at our studio. I poured a bottle of Stoli Blueberry and a pint of fresh blueberries and it was delicious. It looked like I went all out, but in reality it took me less than a minute.
Apples, Crackers, Pretzels, Prosciutto, Gouda, Blue Shropshire.
It’s all about the presentation. You don’t have to have everything homemade – though it works well to add some freshly made items into the rest of the mix – if you present it in a pleasing way. Don’t just throw the bags of crackers and pretzels on the table. Take 10 extra seconds and put them in cute bowls. Create a super easy meat and cheese board. It all adds up to a charming display that can take hardly any time.
April 30th, 2012 |
Author: Christopher | Filed under: food/recipes
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We had some friends over for dinner this weekend, and I was trying to think of a dessert to make when I noticed the ice cream maker my parents gave me sitting in the corner. I want to make a ton of ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet this summer, so I figured this would make for a good practice run.
When I brought it up to Jessica as an idea, she just kept shouting “LEMON” until I gave in, so the flavor was settled.
I can’t imagine how difficult this would be without a machine; for me, it was as easy as making the mix, chilling it overnight, and running the machine the next morning. Pretty much that easy.
It’s a simple recipe; perhaps a little too tart for my taste, but I’m really looking forward to this summer when we can try other flavors, hopefully raspberry and blueberry if our plants decide to bear any fruit.
Recipe is from Martha Stewart.
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 6 lemons)
If you’re going to make it immediately, get an ice bath ready, otherwise you can chill the mixture in the refrigerator overnight. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and 2 1/2 cups water in a saucepan. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the juice. Chill in the ice bath or overnight in the fridge. Mix in the ice cream maker according to its directions, freeze and serve.
April 27th, 2012 |
Author: Christopher | Filed under: food/recipes
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There’s an epidemic sweeping kitchens everywhere. It’s caused thousands of at-home cooks to frantically search through cabinets to no avail, poorly-cooked and dried-out dishes, and just a general lack of organization.
That’s right, lids. Not quite e.coli, but pretty annoying nonetheless. How many of you are missing the proper lids to your pots and pans? I know we don’t have half as many as we should in our kitchen.
In my culinary class, a solution to this was presented a few weeks ago. The theory lab/kitchen doesn’t have lids for most of the smaller cookware, such as sauté pans and saucepans to save space. But you still need to cover certain things when you’re cooking them, right? The answer to this is the cartouche.
Being a French term that literally means cartridge (which doesn’t make any sense here), or loosely translated as scroll or packet, this is a simple way to cover a pan with some paper to substitute for a missing lid. So let’s see how to make one.
Start with parchment paper anywhere from 18-24 inches. You don’t have to be exact here – the sheets in the theory kitchen are pre-cut, so that helps. This is really the only type of paper that will work for this, as its nonstick capabilities are built-in. It’s also something everyone should have in their kitchen – it makes baking cleanup extremely easy. You can either use a knife or scissors to cut it. I used a knife just because it’s what I’m used to.
Fold it in half lengthwise.
Fold it in half lengthwise one more time.
Make sure the folded edge of your last fold is at the bottom, and fold over from the upper-left corner down to the last folded edge. I swear this is not going to be a paper airplane.
Fold the top 45-degree side down flush with the bottom edge.
Take your knife or scissors and cut off the point made by the folds. You want the amount you cut off to be miniscule, as this cut will form the center hole where steam will escape – however, anything under this hole while cooking won’t cook properly, so again, make sure it’s a very small amount that you cut off.
Hold the paper over the pan or skillet you will use. Line up the end at about the center and mark where the outside edge of the pan is. You’ll want to cut a little bit to the outside of that, as the cartouche will sit directly on the food or liquid that you’re cooking and up the sides of the pan. On another note, that skillet is clean, I assure you. Reason #4958 of why I hate stainless steel cookware, but that’s a forty-page rant for another day.
Make the second cut where you marked it (you may just want to eyeball it – whatever you use to mark the paper will come in contact with your food, so that’s your call).
Unfold, and there you have it. One perfect cartouche.
Obviously, you can’t reuse these like you can a lid, but for those of us that have lost them, or never got them to begin with, this is a quick and simple solution. If you don’t get it right the first time, just try again. I ended up with several half-circles before I got it right.
If you still can’t work it out, ask away in the comments and I’ll try to help you through it. Good luck!