Chopped Chocolate Made Easy
The best pastry chefs know to use fresh chocolate when making tasty treats like brownies and fudge. But, fresh chocolate comes in blocks and must be finely chopped in preparation for the melting process. Chefs hate nothing more than spending a valuable hour prepping chocolate.
Serrated knives are a pastry chef’s best friend. The grooved “teeth” on a serrated knife work perfectly to chop brittle chocolate blocks. Serrated knives also tend to be sharper than typical chef’s knives because they’re used less frequently.
Salad From A Blender
It can cut, chop and puree. It can mix and blend. It’s an electric blender – and a home should never be without one. Electric blenders are popular kitchen gadgets that are commonly used to fix food for the baby, or even to concoct a delicious beverage for the older members in the family. You want a salad for lunch? The blender will do that for you, too. Or you can fix a sandwich filling using this very useful gadget.
It stands on the counter proud of its body in transparent glass standing on a pedestal of vibrant color. Consider the shine of its ever sharp blade. It is a beautiful addition to your kitchen but one that do not require a lot of care. It will be appreciated for many years to come.
Looking For the Perfect Wedding Gift
Do you have a friend or relative who is planning to get married? If you are already married or recently got married, you are well aware of all the different things that are needed in the home. Especially nowadays with the economy, it is very hard for a newlywed couple to get started on their own. This is where we, friends and relatives, come into play and help to provide with the necessities in the home.
Besides have a place to live whether it’s an apartment or a home, the newlyweds need furniture, bedding, bath essentials and last not least all the different kinds of kitchen tools. Your main kitchen tools would consist of stainless steel cookware, mixers, kitchen knives, cook books, and a variety of kitchen gadgets including measuring cups, measuring spoons, dishes and flatware.
How Good Are Ceramic Knives
I have the problem that within a short period of time after cutting/slicing apples, they start discoloring and turning brown. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has experience this problem. After doing some research, I have found that the kind of material the knife’s blade is made of will make a huge affect on the type of food you cut or slice.
Most kitchen knife blades are made of steel. As with ceramic knives, the blades are made of zirconium oxide which makes it extremely hard. Since diamonds are the hardest substance on earth, the ceramic material is rated right behind diamonds. The ceramic material itself is zirconium oxide that’s been heated in a process called sintering, which bonds the ceramic powder particles together by closing its pores.
Since the ceramic blades are “chemically inert”, they will have no effect on flavor or appearance of the foods they come in contact with. Since the pores are so tightly closed, you will not transfer the taste or smell of between foods, such as garlic and apples. Compared to your steel blades, ceramic blades will not react to food acids which causes the food to have a metallic taste or smell. By handwashing and drying your ceramic knife, you will have maximum results and extend the life of the knife.
Ceramic knives are very lightweight and keep their like-new appearance a whole lot longer than steel knives because they will not rust or corrode. If you want a good quality ceramic knife that will last you years and year to come may require spending a little extra.
Kitchen Knives 101
Contrary to what some of us may believe, kitchen knives are not divided into two basic types – sharp or dull. In reality, kitchen knives are to the kitchen what handsaws are to a woodworking shop. There are numerous types of kitchen knives, each with their own purpose and design. In the same way you wouldn’t use a chainsaw to trim a picture frame, you wouldn’t use a meat cleaver to peel potatoes, for instance. Each blade performs a specific task, so knowing the different types of kitchen knives can help a cook work more efficiently and safely.
There are boning knives, carving knives, pairing knives, and an oyster knife among other types out on the market.
Electric Knife Does The Job
Now that the holidays are behind us, did you find yourself struggling when carving the ham or turkey with a knife? The slices were not clean, all shredded or had the looks of someone had butchered the ham or turkey. I had fixed a roasted turkey for our Christmas Eve gathering and my husband remembered that we had an electric knife to do all the work.
The electric knife definitely made the carving job a whole lot easier compared to a carving knife plus it made the slices neater. The electric knife has 2 serrated blades that clip together. Once turned on, the blades slide back and forth to provide the sawing action. We do not have to limit ourselves to just a turkey or ham when using an electric knife. You can use it for slicing other meats as well.
Banana Pudding Cake
Since I’m always baking, I decided to bake something different. This recipe was in one of the many recipe books I own. WOW, this cake
is DELICIOUS and very moist!
Ingredients:
Cake:
Vegetable Oil Spray for misting pan
1 Package (18.25 ounces) plain Yellow Cake Mix
8 T. (1 stick) Butter, melted
1 C. Whole Milk
3 large Eggs
1 t. Vanilla Extract
Pudding:
1 Package (5.1 ounces) Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
3 C. Whole Milk
4 T. (1/2 stick) Butter, cut up
2 t. Vanilla Extract
4 C. Sliced Bananas (3 large Bananas)
Topping:
1 Container (12 ounces) frozen Whipped Topping, thawed
1/2 C. Crushed Vanilla Wafer Cookies (10 to 12 cookies)
Instructions:
Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist a 9 X 13 inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Set aside.
Place cake mix, butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop andscrap sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 more minutes scraping sides as needed. The batter should look thick & well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing out with a spatula. Place in oven and bake for 30 to 33 minutes until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with finger. Remove from oven and place on wired rack to cool.
Prepare the pudding – place pudding mix and milk in a stainless steel cookware medium saucepan. Fold in butter and vanilla. Cook over low heat, stirring until butter melts, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. Fold in banana slices.
To assemble cake, spoon the pudding and banana mixture on top of cool cake, spreading mixture out to the edges of the cake. Cover the pudding with the whipped topping spreading it to the edges of the cake with spatula. Scatter the crushed vanilla wafer cookies over the top.
Serve at room temperature.
NOTE – Since I didn’t have any whipped topping on hand, I crushed extra vanilla wafer cookies to cover the pudding mixture completely.
To store this cake, be sure to cover loosely & put in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
A Healthy New Year’s Resolution
During the holidays a lot of us were attending or having parties with our family and friends. While at the party, we all like to enjoy eating the great food and drinks that was provided. A lot of us attend multiple parties; therefore, we end up eating and drinking more than our share.
Now that the holidays are over, reality sets in and oops our clothes fit a little tighter. If you happen to be in this situation, you aren’t the only one. Now that this has occurred, a lot of us decide that we need to make a New Year’s resolution to take control of our life.
Nowadays there is so much information on TV, radio, magazines and recipe books regarding to the special diet that one need to be on in order to accomplish the goals to live a healthy lifestyle. A lot of times one’s goals and health issues will determine which special diet is for us. One also needs to incorporate some exercise to help build muscle while loosing excess fat. By setting short term goals at the beginning will help you to achieve your long term goals and one will not get so discouraged if the goals are not accomplished.
Knife Makes Cutting Bread More Easy
We all know that there are many different kinds of knives that we should have in the kitchen to make our food preparation a lot easier. Some of the types of knives are boning, filleting, chef, cleaver, ceramic, paring and your bread knives. Bread knives are a special type of knife that is serrated and comes in different lengths. This knife can be used to cut foods that have a hard crust and a soft interior like bread. The serrated edge makes small saw cuts to enable you to cut the hard crush. A regular knife will slide through the hard crust and with applied pressure, you will end up smashing the bread since the interior is soft; therefore, your appearance will not look appetizing even though you don’t change the taste.
This type of knife can also be used for cutting fibrous fruits and vegetables like tomatoes which will enable you to cut through the skin without having to smash the tomato. Based on your budget will determine whether you want to buy one that is less expensive and replace it once the serrated edge becomes dull or you rather invest a more expensive one that needs to have the edge taken care of.
Keeping Clean in the Kitchen
Many home cooks are able to produce scrumptious food in the kitchen but are unaware of proper sanitation practices. It doesn’t matter how good your food tastes if you leave your dinner guests with a case of salmonella poisoning. One of the main ways that diseases get spread in the kitchen is through cross-contamination.
It is always a good idea to keep two cutting boards: one for meat and poultry, and one for produce. A wood cutting board is perfect for produce and won’t damage the blade of your knife. Use a plastic board for your meat and poultry, as it won’t absorb as much liquid and can easily be disinfected.