Archive for January, 2010
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.
Honey Squares
These Honey Squares are excellent! I made these a lot & often took them to various functions.
Ingredients:
3/4 C. Crisco Oil
1/4 C. Honey
1 C. Sugar
1 Egg (Beaten)
2 C. Flour
1 t. Soda
1 1/2 t. Cinnamon
1/2 t. Salt
1 C. Chopped Pecans
Combine oil, honey and sugar; mix very well. Add beaten egg. Sift together dry ingredients & add to mixture. Batter will be stiff. Grease a stainless steel cookware jelly roll pan and press dough in pan. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. After removing from oven and while hot, spread on icing.
Icing:
1 C. Powdered Sugar
1 T. Water
2 T. Mayonnaise
1 t. Vanilla
Mix together & spread immediately on top while still hot. Let cool but cut into small squares while still warm.
Blenders Make a Kitchen Complete
Blenders are one appliance that every kitchen should have to be complete. Deciding what kind of a blender to have can be a real task. Before you decide what type of blender to purchase, check out the features and the reviews of what others have to say about the blender. Before purchasing, take into consideration your preferences, needs and lifestyles as well as your budget.
Since there are so many different types & models of blenders to choose from, one of the things to consider is how often do you plan to use the blender. This will determine how dependable the blender needs to be. What will you be using the blender for – crushing ice, making drinks, shakes or purifying vegetables.
Another thing to consider is the durability of the jar. A jar that is large enough based on your needs, one that will not leak & can be handled easily. Does the jar have a pour spout to empty the contents? One last thing, how much storage space you have in your kitchen will also determine the size of blender to purchase.
Can’t Do Without Kitchen Gadgets
Nowadays whether you are in a department store, grocery store, or online shopping, you will always see an area of the store that reflects all different types of kitchen gadgets. They could be anything from small appliances, all different types of baking tools, cooking tools and other types of gadgets. Depending on what I am planning to bake or cook determines what I need to use.
If you are like me, I have a drawer that I call my “junk drawer” that holds all kinds of small kitchen gadgets which I use frequently including spatulas, turners, measuring spoons and other small gadgets.
What Knife Should I Use
Have you ever been in a situation and can’t figure out which kitchen knife to use especially when cutting through a bone on a cut of meat whether it’s beef, poultry or any other type of meat. I have found that a meat cleaver works the best. It’s a large wide-thick dull blade that varies in size. Because of its weight, the cleaver is able to cut through tough food with a chopping motion.
A meat cleaver can also be used as a mallet to flatten your meat such as veal for very thin slices as well as crushing seeds and mashing garlic.