I am a Lemon Lover! Whether it is a roast chicken with Lemon and garlic or a Lemon Meringue Pie. It doesn't make a difference to me, they are all delicious. When it comes to sweet dishes, one of the most versatile ingredients you can keep in the refrigerator is Lemon Curd. It is a sort of custard that is made with eggs and lemons and sugar. It can be used as a tart or pie filling. You can fold it into whipped cream or made into a mousse. It has dozens of uses. You make it by peeling the zest off of a few lemons and mix it in a food processor with sugar until it is processed with the sugar. You then cream that sugar mixture with room temperature butter until combined. You then, juice the lemons and mix that with the butter-sugar mixture. It will look curdled but that is the way it is suppose to look. You then cook it in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened, about ten minutes. You then cool and refrigerate it. It has no preservatives, so it is best to use it quickly. It is simply delicious. I personally like spooning a bit over some vanilla ice cream. This recipe below is Ina Garten's recipe. It is the easiest recipe I have found! Bon Appetit!
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Although we beat the bloody Gerries twice in the last hundred years, anyone with taste has to admit...they have some good damn food! This is a classic starter dish made "Vinnie Style"! You have all of the classic ingredients for a German soup: cheese, potatoes,and BEER! Then, you have the Vinnie ingredients: Bacon and hot sauce. Although a usual German dish would have caraway or anise seeds, I find that to harsh of a flavor. It overpowers the taste of whatever ingredients are in the dish. All I can say is, get yourself some soft pretzels, a big old bowl of this, and a large lager and you will have a great meal. Simple as that!!!
On day I was trying to think of a new way to add flavor to a steak. I also wanted to make something that would have a few other uses besides a topping for a steak. I started looking at recipes and flavors. I then got to onions. Most people love putting fried or grilled onions on steak. That was kind of boring for me. I then thought, how else could I cook the onions to add better flavor? It then struck me...Caramelized Onions. Whenever I make my version of Julia Child's French Onion soup, you cook the onions for about 45 minutes until they are a dark golden brown and sweet and gooey. I wanted to take it a step further and add more distinct flavor to the delicious onion. A great idea came to me...Mustard. After cooking down the onions, I add some vinegar, sherry, orange juice, honey and a lot of whole grain mustard. After a short simmer, you are left with a thick relish of mustard and oniony goodness. I then put it on top of a delicious filet mignon with some crumbled Roquefort cheese and put it under the broiler. The flavor was out of this world delicious. Like I said above, I wanted to utilize it further. The next night, I took some crusty french bread and sliced it on the bias. I then grilled it on each side. Then, I took a whole clove of garlic and rubbed it into the grilled bread to give that garlic taste without the bite. I then slathered it with the relish and I got a wonderful Onion Mustard Relish Crostini. Some other uses would be as a topping for burgers or dogs. It would go well with some cheese and crackers or in a Ploughman's Lunch. The one thing I would suggest to use it quickly. Since it is homemade and not made with preservatives it might not keep more than a week. It wasn't a problem for me because it was so delicious that I used it up after two meals. If you are looking for a way to mix up your menu with some delicious new flavors, this is the option for you. The recipe is below. Cheers! Note: The picture above is the closest I have found to my recipe. It is thicker and darker in color.
I think it is high time I explain all of the standard knife cuts that professional chefs use. We had a demonstration by our chef, today at Allegany College of MD. I took a picture of the cuts that I made. That is the picture above. While I explain the cuts below, you can use this picture and the ones below as a reference. Before you even start learning the cuts, you must learn how to hold your knife and place your hands. You grip the blade itself, with the thumb and the index finger grasping the blade just to the front of the finger guard and the middle finger placed just opposite, on the handle side of the finger guard below the bolster. Those without culinary training often grip the handle, with all four fingers and the thumb gathered underneath When actually starting to cut, you hold your knife in one hand as stated above, then you hold the item to be cut with your fingers curled under. To avoid any kitchen accidents (believe me, I had my share of them before I learned my lesson), curl your fingers under so that your knuckles are closest to the knife and your fingertips are well out of the danger zone. The object is to use your knuckles as a guide for cutting. You just keep the blade against your knuckle, as shown in the picture to the right. This will feel awkward at first but, with practice, it will become natural and you will come away with all ten fingers in working order. Julienne- We shall start with the basic Julienne cut. This is the starting point for a few of the other cuts. It is basically described as a knife cut in which the food item is cut into long thin strips, similar to matchsticks. Trim the ends of the vegetable and the edges to make four straight sides. This makes it easier to produce a uniform cut. Trimmings can be used for stocks, soups, purees, etc. The measurement for julienne is ⅛ x ⅛ x 1 to 2 in (3 mm x 3 mm x 3 to 5 cm). After trimming or squaring off the vegetable you then cut uniform matchstick shapes. Fine Julienne- The fine Julienne is the same but, it is made into much thinner strips. Brunoise- The Brunoise is very simple to do. All you do is first Julienne the vegetable you are making then you turn it a quarter turn and make a fine dice of the vegetables. The standard size is 3mm or less or 1/8 inch thick pieces. Small Dice- This one is the same as the Brunoise, but you make it a little larger. The size is measuring 1/4 inch on all sides. Battonet- This, like the Julienne is the gateway to a few other cuts. You start out like the Julienne and trim or square off the vegetable. You then cut it in half. You are then left with your Battonet. The Batonnet measures approximately 1/2"x 1/2"x 2". Medium Dice- After you make your Battonet cut above, all you then do is like the Brunoise, turn the Battonet a quarter turn and dice into cubes with sides measuring approximately 12mm (½ inch). Large Dice- Once you trim or square off your vegetable, you cut it into large cubes measuring 3/4 inch on all sides. Paysanne- These are simple cuts to make. All you do is make flat wafer-shaped cuts measuring 1/2 by 1/2 by 1/8 inch thick. Tornee- This cut is rather difficult to master. It is a cut with 7 sides. A football-shaped cut. It is a difficult cut to master and for that reason is seldom seen in the fast-paced restaurant environment. Chiffonade- you see this cut a lot with herbs like basil and mint. You stack up leaves of different herbs, you then roll the stack up tight like a cigar then you make slanted julienne-like cuts. This creates little curls of herbs. This is just all of the basic cuts that you learn when you start at restaurant or culinary course at a college. They are very useful to know, as a matter of fact it is an essential skill to learn if you are trying for a cooking position in a restaurant. Have fun cutting!
I first discovered this dish while watching one of my favorite shows, the classic British Romantic Comedy "As Time Goes By" starring Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer. Judi's character Jean makes this dish on the first night Geoffrey's character Lionel moves in with her. After laughing at the hilarity of the episode, I decided to research the recipe further. I was led to learn that it is in Julia Child's first book Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It is just a fancy name for Beef and Onions Brasied in Beer. You brown the beef in a dutch oven or flameproof casserole. You then brown the onions. Then you add beef stock, beer, and flavorings. You then bake it in an oven. After it has cooked, you strain out the sauce and thicken it. After making Beef Borguignon a couple of times at my school, I wanted to try something else. My friends loved it. As a side dish I would suggest some roasted potatoes or some kind of starch. Bon Appetit!
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