The Skinny on Herbs & Spices

Notes for September cooking class – Herbs & Spices

Men have garages – Women have kitchens. If you ask a man, they’ll say that it’s important to have good “tools”, well, I agree.

The quality and versatility of the “tools” you have determine how many of those, “jobs” your willing to take on.

In the kitchen, you can accomplish a lot with a good Chef’s knife. A Chef’s knife is distinguished by the curve at 1/3 of the end to the tip and when you keep the tip of your knife on the cutting board and cut with a rocking motion, you’ll be able to chop and slice in a small amount of time. It only takes a little practice. Try it. Force yourself to use your knife the way it was intended and you’ll find that you’ll become more and more comfortable with the motion and the process.

Another kitchen tool that will make your life much easier is a food processor. There are many things you can do with a food processor besides pureeing and grating. You can mix bread dough in your food processor, dips, spreads, to puree soups, make peanut butter… the list goes on. If I had to choose between a mixer and food processor, I’d choose the food processor. You can always mix by hand and the processor is there for the big jobs that a mixer can’t do.

When using baking sheets, Sil Pat pads are amazing. They’re available at the kitchen outlet store and cost about $20.00. Start with one and see how you like it. Ask the Mom, Grandmother, or sweet husband to get one for you. I don’t think you’ll be sorry. Use them for anything that you’d bake on a cookie sheet. They keep everything from sticking and make it virtually impossible to burn anything, unless you reallllly try.

Demo Notes:

In many recipes calling for chicken, you can choose to grill your chicken instead of boiling, poaching, frying, etc. Pre-grill your chicken ahead of time; this will cut down on your preparation time during the meal prep. If you’re going to use grilled chicken in a recipe where it will continue to cook, don’t cook your chicken all the way. This will allow it to finish off without drying out.

I often grill 6-10 chicken breasts at the same time. Serve 1-2 for dinner that night and use the rest for other recipes. It doesn’t really take any longer to grill 8 than it does 2. Once the chicken is cooked, it can be re-frozen for use at a later date.

When purchasing fresh herbs for a recipe, make sure that they look bright green and healthy. Some of the herbs in the stores aren’t that great. If you’re not sure if the herbs are good, ask a clerk. Buy fresh herbs at a store where they have a pretty good turnover in their herb department, then, they’ll be fresh.

I don’t always buy fresh herbs when a recipe calls for it. If I don’t have fresh, I’ll use dried. Just remember that you’ll use ½ or less of dried herbs than the measure asked for in fresh. Check the recipe carefully to make sure you’re not adding too much.

REMEMBER: LESS IS MORE – this really applies to spices and herbs, especially if you’re not familiar with the flavor. You can always add a little more, but once added, you can never take it out. Remember also that the full flavor of the herbs won’t appear right away. I’d add herbs, cook for 15-30 minutes and taste. Adding salt and pepper will enhance the flavor and body of the herbs, so make sure you do that before increasing the herbs.

Salt is such an important agent when cooking. I know that for those that are on a salt restrictive diet, this may be difficult, but try some of the salt substitutes. You’ll find that if you salt as you go along, you’ll use much less salt on the table, if any at all. Consider – you start with your vegetables, and salt them to flavor. When you add them to the broth, if it’s not salted separately, you’ve diluted the flavor of the salt on the vegetables, so remember that as you go along, salt at each step and allow the flavors to blend. Remember, everything is subjective; what may be really salty for one person, may seem bland to another. It’s your taste that counts. I’d rather use less salt and put salt on the table than over salt.

If you’ll heavily salt your water when cooking pasta, you won’t need any on the table.

I used to use margarine when cooking and baking. Unfortunately, that’s not possible any longer. Manufacturers started adding water to margarine which reduces the fat content; that’s great if you’re dieting, but recipes are a formula that requires certain percentages of ingredients in order for the whole to finish wonderfully. The added water and reduction of fat will not make for a wonderful finish. Trust me, use butter; you’ll appreciate the end product.

I also use butter in cooking. Consider this, when you think about the amount of baking you do, your family isn’t really eating that much. It’s not bad to splurge now and then. Butter in cooking gives everything a very rich, texture and flavor. It only takes 1-2 Tbl. to make a dish go from good to terrific. In order to keep butter from burning in a pan, add a little olive oil to stabilize it.

If you’re looking to save time and money, buy in bulk. I know that for younger girls, this may seem like a waste of money, but split it with someone, you’ll still save money. Think about your meals ahead of time. You can buy, pre-prep your purchases and freeze in sizes that your recipe calls for. It will cut your cooking time in ½ or more and it’ll keep you out of the grocery store, which in turn, will save you money.

If you want to stretch a dish to feed more, add pasta, or serve it over rice. It’s a great way to take a simple recipe and double or triple the serving portions. Remember that pasta and rice absorb liquids so you may need to increase the liquids in your recipe.

When cooking gnocchi, cook until gnocchi floats to the top of the pan, and then continue cooking 3-4 more minutes.

When freezing gnocchi, lay flat on a cookie sheet until completely frozen, then transfer to a freezer container. Frozen gnocchi does NOT need to be thawed before cooking.

When cooking traditional dumplings, use a pan with a tight fitting lid and cook for 15 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE LID; at the end of the cooking time, test to see if the dumplings are done, if not, replace the lid and continue to cook for 5 more minutes.

When making a white sauce, start with equal parts flour and butter. Start with a SMALL amount. First melt the butter then add flour. In order to eliminate the “flour” taste that might present itself in the sauce, be sure to “cook off” the flour. Continue to stir the butter flour mixture until it starts to bubble and turn a golden brown. This mixture is also called RUE. When the flour is golden (don’t allow to burn, or you’ll need to start over), start adding your liquid.

If you want a “white” sauce, use milk or cream only. If you’re making a soup base, you can use vegetable, beef or chicken broth as well as the milk, or just the broth, the choice is yours. The amount of liquid you add is determined by how thick you want the sauce.

Remember that a flour based sauce will continue to thicken as it cooks. Since that’s the case, you’ll want to add a liquid and then cook and stir till the sauce is thick again, continue adding liquid till it’s reached the desired thickness.

If you’re using the “rue” as a thickening agent for another purpose, you’ll want the sauce to be very thick, if you’re making a white sauce that will be the base of a soup, you’ll want it to be thinner.

IMPORTANT: Hot to Cold or Cold to Hot. If you’ll remember this, your sauce will always be smooth and creamy. Add cold liquids to the hot butter/flour mixture. If making the Egg Cream Sauce, you’ll add some of the hot white sauce to the cold eggs in order to bring them up to temperature to add back into the white sauce. Be sure that you’re beating the eggs continuously while adding the sauce, so they don’t cook.

When making a white sauce, it is important that you stir constantly, and DO NOT let it boil, this may curdle the milk. If you want a sweet Egg Cream Sauce, add sugar (to taste); add the egg, as instructed above, and finish off with some vanilla or almond extract. After adding the egg, stir constantly so the egg doesn't scramble. Cook until the mixture “coats the back of the spoon”. This means, that when you drag your finger through the sauce on the back of the spoon, the mixture stays separated and does not flow back together. (If you don’t have some good wooden spoons, invest in some. You’ll be surprised how often you’ll need them.)

Adding a little cream cheese to your white sauce will improve the texture.

When using a white sauce that has been refrigerated or frozen (if frozen, allow to thaw in the refrigerator before using), you’ll need to bring it up to temperature, and may need to thin it a little before proceeding.

A cornstarch based sauce is a clear sauce and is usually used with fruit, jells and some gravies. A cornstarch based sauce will not thicken more than what it is when it comes to a boil. If you want your sauce thicker, you’ll need to add a little more cornstarch slurry (cornstarch and water). Be sure to add it a little at a time and allow it to come back to a boil to test the thickness of the sauce. This type of thickener is often used for beef based soups, turkey soup and some chicken soups.

Remember that sugar is considered a liquid. This won’t affect you much in cooking, but it could make a huge difference in baking. Just keep it in mind.