frozen food tips

complete packed cottage pie . storing in ziplock bag is a good idea coz you can seal it then mark the dates and label it. otherwise a simple plastic would suffice but you'll need to seal it with a heat sealer.

Kitchen Tips & Fixes

Hi...I just found a great book about kitchen tips & fixes. Its really interesting and enlightening. This was a loaned book from Taylor's Library not mine to keep...

But in the light of sharing and as barney the dinosaur say " sharing is caring" ^_^ so I'll be writing some of the 'interesting' ones here (while i still have the book)

This ones are particularly about KNIVES

A Stiff Knife is a SAFE Knife

A flexible knife is a DANGEROUS knife. This is because it can twist while cutting, change direction unpredictably and you could possibly hurt yourself. So test your knife!

Use the Sharp "heel" of the Knife
If you find that you have a blunt knife try using the 'heel' of the knife. the heel, is the end of a knife near to the handle. that area is usually sharper than the rest of the knife coz we don't use that part as much as we do with the mid section of the knife.

This is a tip to keep your knife shape a little bit more longer. you know that sometimes after we do our cutting and chopping we tend to scrape the chopping board with the knife? yeah instead using the sharp end use the 'spine'/back of the knife to scrape the board.

Grapefruit Knife for Easy Bagel Cutting
Ok this one is a bit random coz we Malaysian don't eat bagel as much but to you bagel eaters, this might be helpful. Grapefruit knife is usually curved and serrated and this makes bagel cutting easy, the curve blade keep the bagel in place while cutting it.

There are more other interesting tips and tricks but I'll have to read the book 1st then translate it here in this blog so stay tuned!

This is just a 3 day old vanilla essence. the color will change according to age. so don't worry.


DIY Vanilla Essence a non alcohol version.

what you need
11/2 c food glycerin
1/2c warm water
2 vanilla pods
glass jar preferably dark glass jar - i use my old coffee jar (its a clear jar)

1st sterilize the jar then add in the glycerin and warm water. Stir well. then cut the vanilla pod in the middle length wise and scrape the seeds out and put in the glycerin mixture. when you can put the pod in the glycerin mixture too.Stir & mix well. close the lid and shake it, shake it some more. then let it sit there like all preserved should. give them 2-3weeks before using it.

shelf life? i think so long you take care of it i.e not contaminate it with other ingredients while using it it would last you a very long time.

Clarified Butter

what is clarified butter:-



how to clarified butter:-





hope this video helps...

TIPS: how to separate eggs & beat egg whites

hope that these videos are helpful.

Herbs: Dried vs Fresh

this is such a topic to write about. i'm sure this entry will be somewhat useful to my readers or those chef wannabes (no puns intended)

herbs derives from leaves of plant and they gives great contribution to our cooking as well as medicine. to point which is better dried or fresh is very much debatable because it depends on what type/king of cooking/dish you are making. but one thing for sure, dried herbs tends to have STRONGER flavor than fresh herbs. so when cooking, with fresh herbs we tend to have to use more; the ratio would usually be 1 table spoon of fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon of dried herbs.

although the type of cooking you're doing is also a major factor in determining the out come of a dish with herbs. for example; if you're cooking stews or soups or any dish that requires longer hour of cooking, add herbs in the beginning may cause lost of flavors so many cooks/chef would reasonably advice to add herbs towards the end of the cooking for maximum flavor. but if you're making chilled dish perhaps putting the herbs early is a good idea as it will slowly incorporate its flavor to the dish.

so dried or fresh? to me both are equally wonderful although dried herbs are very convenient especially to us Malaysian where fresh herbs such as tarragon, oregano, sage just to name a few are hard to find.

Fresh herbs is wonderful but i find it hard to keep it fresh for longer than a week. i suppose its due to our climate. i love fresh herb but they're expensive and hard to keep (do you have the same problem?) i remember when i was in the UK i used to keep my herbs clean (cut the stems,clean damaged leaves) and in a glass, it lasted for weeks but i can't do that here it wittered just within 2-3hours. for my love of fresh herbs i grow my own (i have anna olson to thank for that)

dried herbs are exceptionally convenient and a lot cheaper than fresh herbs. plus when you buy fresh herb you have to buy in stalk or a bunch while you only need some. and keeping it is a bitch (opps pardon my french =D )...unless you grow your own herbs then that's fine. but when buying dried herbs look for ones that still have color in it. i mean the green color on dried herbs still look fresh and not brownish. brownish herbs means 'old' or stale herbs which may have less flavor(so you won't get your money worth) if you so happen to have stale herbs, its still usable only you would probably need more than the recipe required. to release the aroma and flavor of herbs rub the dried herbs between your hands or grind them before you toss in your dish. to check if your herb is fresh when you rub with your fingers you should smell a rather strong aroma otherwise its time to throw out your stash.

so dried or fresh...i suppose its a matter of taste...

hope this entry is useful for you. happy cooking!

ALL ABOUT FLOURS

this is one of the basics of baking...one should understand the purpose and types of flour available to ensure a successful baking. i for one (obviously wasn't paying any attention when we had our theory lecture on this topic) but i shall explain as best i could base on my dusty old notes hehehe~

you may or may not know that there are many and i mean many types of flour in the market and all are set for different purposes...

1. high protein flour
2. low protein flour
3. all purpose flour
4. soy flour
5. bleached and un bleached flour (is basically all purpose flour)
   
6. whole wheat flour (high fiber flour, gluten content is not that high and you would usually have to mix with all purpose flour or bread flour when use in recipes)
   
7. organic flour (its organic!)
   
8. durum flour (i call it pasta flour as it is great for expending and stretching)
   
9. tapioca flour
10. rice flour
11. corn flour
12. glutinous flour
13. samolina (also great for pasta...and for kueh heheh)
    

...is there more? however i hardly pay any attention to any other flour except for high, low protein and all purpose flour.

high protein flour :
this type of flour also known as bread flour. as it name suggested its HIGH in PROTEIN which also mean that its has high gluten content. it is milled from hard wheat and is best for yeast products.

low protein flour:
this is the opposite of the above *DUH* its has low gluten and also known as pastry flour. this flour is most suitable for a more delicate cakes and pastries such as pie crusts.since it has a low gluten level and is usually used for angel food cakes and cookies. This flour is used when the desired effect is a texture that is tender or delicate.

all purpose flour:
is one of the most accessible and commonly used types of flour. You can buy bleached (i.e. white flour chemically bleached to reduce spoilage) or unbleached all-purpose flour. Bleached flour is good for most pastries, cookies and pancakes, and unbleached flour is great for strudel, cream puffs and éclairs. to sum it up, if you cant find high or low protein flour all purpose flour would substitute just fine as it DOES sits in between the high and low proteins content...

so with all these information i think you'd probably could make your own conclusion on which flour is good for what and why ...(i supposed) mmmm my notes are still long but i'm basically tired of typing and scanning to extract the gist of it... hope you dun mind...but i promise that i'll add on information gardually as we go along so bare with me....

now...have i ever made an entry about the difference between cupcakes and muffins?????

arghhh~ i'm so lazy to check mmmmmm~*contemplating "to write or not to write..indeed tha question"*