I don't have any creme fraiche
I don't have any creme fraiche
Similar to sour cream but not quite as thick, French crème fraîche is a heavy cream slightly soured with a bacterial culture. (It's much better than it sounds.)
If you don't have crème fraîche, you could use sour cream. But if you have the time, why not make your own? Mix 1 tablespoon of buttermilk with 1 cup of heavy cream and let it sit for a day in a warm spot (about 80 degrees). The bacteria in the buttermilk will keep the cream from going bad. After 24 hours or you've got your crème fraîche. Put it in the fridge, where it will keep for a week.
How can I keep from crying while chopping an onion?
How can I keep from crying while chopping an onion?
Is it possible to avoid crying when you're chopping an onion? Home remedies range from the unattractive (breathe through your mouth and put carrots up your nose) to the suggestive (light a votive and do it underwater). Most remedies aim to keep the sulfuric acid in onion juice from floating up into your eyes and triggering the tear ducts.
Some eyes are more sensitive to the acid than others. Dipping two halves of an onion in white vinegar will remove some of the sulfuric acid, but doing so may compromise the onion’s flavor. Goggles will keep onion acids out of your eyes and keep you from tearing up. However, goggles will also fog up in a steamy kitchen. (Plus, goggles in the kitchen? Really?)
At Cookthink, we believe it’s all right to cry. Crying means you’ve got a fresh, potent onion on your cutting board.
You might try opening a window or turning on an exhaust fan. Cutting the root end last also seems to cut down on the crying. Or just get in the habit of making onions the last ingredient you prep before cooking, so you don’t have to linger too long in the onion-infused space above your cutting board.
Vidalias and other sweet onions are less likely to make you cry, because they contain more water and less sulfuric acid. So mild that you can bite into one like an apple, the Supasweet onion might make crying while chopping a thing of the past.
Strip cabbage of its outer leaves; rinse the head well and pat dry.
Now slice the cabbage in half through its tough, fibrous core with a long, sturdy knife.
Cut each half in half again through the core. This will expose the core to make it easy to remove.
Holding each cabbage quarter upright, remove the tough core.
Now you can slice the cabbage into long, thin strips for slaws, salads, soups or stews or thicker strips for braises and sautés.
Most of the heat in a chile pepper -- whether jalapeño, serrano, habanero, or another -- comes from the white ribs and seeds. Removing both reduces the chile's heat and allows more of the pepper's flavor to come through.
First, cut the pepper in half lengthwise. If you want the halves to stay intact for larger slices or a large dice, just trim out the seeds and ribs, cut out the stem, and slice the pepper as thick or thin as you like.
Otherwise, it's easier to get the seeds and ribs out if you cut each half in half again.
To get the seeds and ribs out, hold each quarter by the end. With the knife parallel to the cutting board, slice across the ribs and seeds. When you get to the top of the pepper, turn the knife downward toward the cutting board and chop off the stem with the same motion. (Here, we used a Granton Santoku knife; you may prefer a smaller paring knife.)
Reference: Help! I ate a hot pepper! (Cookthink)
Reference: How to seed a chile pepper (Cookthink)
Reference:: Why are some jalapenos hotter than others? (Cookthink)
Adobo sauce is a spicy, dark red Mexican sauce made from ground chiles, herbs, garlic, tomatoes and vinegar. It is also used as a marinade. Chipotle chiles (dried, smoked jalapeño peppers) are often stewed and packed in adobo sauce.
A chipotle chile is a fully ripened, dried and smoked Mexican jalapeño (as seen on the right). The peppers naturally turn red at the end of the season, so the peppers that were not picked fresh for market get smoke dried into chipotles. The sweet-hot flavor that results from the long, slow smoking process is unique and lends an exotic tang to recipes.
Chipotles are most commonly available ground or canned, usually in adobo sauce, a marinade made from chiles, tomatoes and garlic (as seen on the left). The peppers lend a smoky-sweet flavor to sauces, marinades and salsas. In Mexico, pickled chipotle are eaten as appetizers.
Chipotles have caught on in recent years in the U.S. and are now used widely in Mexican-American and Tex-Mex cuisine.
Storing fresh herbs is a battle against the inevitable, but here are a few tips for keeping them alive in time for you to eat them up:
1 Set a bushy herb like parsley, cilantro, chervil, or mint in a shallow glass of water and keep it on the counter or in the refrigerator for several days, just like a bouquet.
2 Or, rinse it, wrap it loosely in a paper or dish towel while still damp, and place it (with or without a plastic bag covering) in the crisper or at the bottom of the fridge.
3 Sturdy herbs such as rosemary or thyme can be stored in paper or loose plastic (either keep it loose or puncture some air holes to let out moisture). Or you can simply hang them upside down in the kitchen, where they will dry slowly.
4 Do not manhandle delicate herbs like chives, tarragon or basil. Rinse lightly, wrap loosely in paper and place in a plastic bag in the crisper.
5 Fresh herbs should last about a week if stored properly. If you're at the end of your garden's season and you have a tons of herbs left unused, you can most herbs to have later in the year. Kalyn's Kitchen breaks down the best way to freeze basil, rosemary and thyme.
Reference: Marjoram vs. oregano (Cookthink)
Reference: How to make pesto (Cookthink)
What's the difference between a green onion and a scallion?
What's the difference between a green onion and a scallion?
The words green onion and scallion are generally interchangeable; they both most often refer to immature members of the sweet onion family.
In general, green onions or scallions are vegetables with a white base and long straight green leaves that can be eaten raw or cooked (both parts). In Europe, the term spring onion refers to green onions that have a fatter but mild white bulb and long green leaves.
recipe: Boiled Eggs With Green Onions, Bell Pepper And Ginger (cookthink)
recipe: Green Onion Beer Bread (Coconut & Lime)
Onion slices are versatile. In quick-cooking dishes, they stay distinct enough from the other ingredients that they don't permeate every bite as diced onions would. In longer-cooking dishes, they have enough surface area to turn soft and brown, but their natural shape and length keeps them intact.
To make contoured half-round slices, first cut the onion in half through the root.
Next, slice away the both ends of each half and pull away the onion's skin. Since the ends hold the slices together, cutting them off frees the slices to fall into individual pieces.
Starting on one side of the onion with the knife at an angle, make slices as thick or thin as you like.
Rotate the knife around the contour of the onion, bring it closer to perpendicular to the cutting board as you go.
Red pepper is a generic term that usually refers to red-colored Cayenne pepper, which is made from dried, ground hot chile peppers named after the capital of French Guiana where they originate.
Red pepper flakes are the dried seeds and flesh of the Cayenne pepper.
Used to add heat and excitement to food, Cayenne has also been used for medicinal purposes for centuries, to help treat everything from circulatory problems to sore throats.
Salsa means sauce in Spanish, Italian and Arabic. But when people say salsa in America, they are generally referring to a fresh or cooked sauce used as an accompaniment to Mexican cuisine that ranges from mild to red-hot.
Salsa can be red or green and may contain tomatoes, tomatillos, onions, chiles, cilantro, lime juice and other ingredients. It can be used as a dip for tortilla chips or as a garnish for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, tostadas and other Mexican dishes. It is often paired with guacamole and sour cream.
Watermelons are at their best from mid-June to late August. If you're buying a whole watermelon, look for a fruit that's symmetrical, with a dull, firm and unblemished rind. A watermelon with one flat, yellowish-brown side is a good thing. That's a sign that the melon has sat on the ground and ripened for a long time.
Another supposedly reliable method for selecting a ripe melon: Slap it. If you hear a thump that sounds as if the fruit is hollow, it should be ready to eat.
When buying cut watermelon, make sure the flesh is bright and moist, since dry, grainy watermelon doesn't taste good. If you see a bunch of little white seeds, the watermelon has been cut too early and will lack the sweetness you are after.
Recipe: Watermelon Pizza (Washington Post)
Recipe: Watermelon Salad With Arugula, Ricotta Salata And Walnuts (Sweet Myrtle & Bitter Honey)
What exactly is a baby watermelon?
What exactly is a baby watermelon?
A Sugar Baby watermelon is a variety of so-called "ice-box melon" that's smaller than your average watermelon.
Round, super-sweet and only about 8 inches in diameter, the Sugar Baby has a dark rind and red, yellow or orange flesh. It grows fast and is just the right size for picnics.
Related: Root Source: Watermelon
Pickled watermelon rind is made by peeling most of the green skin off the white rind that usually gets left behind once the red flesh has been devoured.
First, the white rind is cut into small chunks or wedges, then soaked in salt or lime water for as long as overnight. Next, it's drained and added to a pot of fresh water, where it is simmered gently until tender. (Boil your watermelon rind too hard and it will end up rubbery.)
At this point, the rind is drained and may be soaked again in vinegared water or added to a syrup that's been made by boiling together vinegar, water, sugar and spices like cinnamon, cloves and allspice. After allowing the rind to steep, this mixture is cooked for a few hours until the syrup is thick, at which point the watermelon pickles can be cooled and transfered to sterile jars.
what you should know
Brundidge, Alabama. 1950. When the watermelon trucks stopped at the traffic light in town, Chip's dad would climb up into the back and drop a melon down to friends.
They would run the fruit out of sight, strike it on the hot pavement, and then -- as the poet Charles Simic described the act of eating watermelon -- "eat the smile and spit out the teeth."
toothless The popularity of seedless watermelon took some of the teeth out. Though it has a long association with the American South, watermelon is loved all over the world for its quenching, sweet flesh. In Japan, they've even developed square watermelon to satisfy demand and fit a small fridge.
look for scuffs When buying a whole watermelon (or stealing one off a truck), look for one with a flat, yellowish-brown side. That's a sign that the melon has sat for a long time on the ground while ripening. Another way to check for ripeness? Slap the melon.
waterlalala If you're ever stuck in a sing-a-long but don't know the words, just mouth the word "watermelon" over and over again. Works every time.
what you need
Instead of a melon baller, we use a larger OXO cookie scoop to carve out rounds of ripe watermelon.
For the modern lowdown on the food of the South, turn to John T. Edge. He's the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, a contributor to Gourmet and a guest food editor at the Oxford American. His most recent book is the Southern Belly.
We love to drink watermelon margaritas, martinis and agua frescas out of these acrylic goblets.
what you do
"What grows together goes together" is the rule behind this watemelon salad with arugula, walnuts and ricotta salata. It's from Efisio Farris' Sweet Myrtle & Bitter Honey.
Have you made watermelon pizza? If not, try it this weekend.
Watermelon basil agua fresca, from Coconut & Lime, is made for stifling days and food off the grill.
Speaking of the grill, while it's burning, throw some wedges on to make this grilled watermelon salad.
Featured recipe: Combine cool watermelon and hot peppers, and you end up with refreshing watermelon gazpacho. The recipe comes from FoodieTots, and is the featured recipe for this week's Root Source Challenge.
Cumin is the dried seed of an aromatic plant that has a dusty, vaguely bitter taste and a distinctive smell. Cumin seeds can be used whole, fried in oil to release their aroma; or ground into a powder.
Most cumin seeds are light brown in color, but they are also available in white (similar to the brown in flavor) and black (which has a more peppery taste). Cumin seeds look a lot like caraway seeds.
You can find references to cumin in the Bible, where it was cited as a flavor-enhancer for soup and bread. The Romans used it to preserve meat and broil fish and it was popular in the Middle Ages. Today, cumin seeds are used to spice up Munster cheese, to make Indian and Pakistani curries and to add flavor to Tex-Mex chili. Cumin is also popular in many cuisines of the world, including Middle Eastern, Mexican, Eastern European and Mediterranean.
During the Middle Ages, cumin was believed to keep loved ones (and chickens) from straying; likewise, brides and grooms carried cumin seeds during the wedding ceremony as a happy marriage charm.
How to select and ripen a mango
How to select and ripen a mango
Following a post on the Cookthink blog about OXO's mango splitter, several people emailed asking how to pick a ripe mango. We asked Aliza Green, author of Field Guide to Produce, for advice. Fresh off of six weeks on the road to promote her new book, Green just emailed back with some thoughts on mangoes:
Mangoes vary greatly in size and consistency, depending on variety. My favorite at the moment is the Ataulfo (AKA champagne) mango, a small kidney-shaped mango that has rich jellyish flesh with little stringiness.
Look for mangoes that are football shaped rather than thin or flat. The flatter mangoes may be stringy. Avoid stringy looking, shriveled mangoes. The mangoes that are fuller and rounder usually have the deep color of a ripe peach instead of the yellowish green that the other varieties have.
Avoid mangos with a sour or alcoholic smell. Because of their high sugar content, mangoes will ferment naturally.
Most mangoes when you buy them in the store are hard. They must be fully ripened before eating. Leave in cool room temperature till the flesh is yielding but not mushy. Peel color does not indicate ripeness, but most varieties will turn yellow as they ripen (except the Keitt and Kent, which can be ripe while they are still green).
Check the area around the stem; if it looks plump and round, the mango is ripe. With the stem end up, smell the mango. A ripe mango will have a sweet, fruity aroma and be slightly soft to the touch, like an avocado or peach. A few brown speckles is also a normal indication of ripeness. Once you've ripened the mango, you can refrigerate it for up to 4 days.
Recipe: Mango Wontons (Cook & Eat)
Recipe: Mango Lassi (Take-Out Menu Cookbook)
What are the pros and cons of farmed fish?
What are the pros and cons of farmed fish?
The fishing industry has tried to control some of the variables by farming the most popular varieties of fish, like salmon, trout and catfish. Aquacultured fish grow faster than their counterparts in the wild, and they are often more tender and richer tasting. They are harvested without suffering the stress and damage of being hooked or netted, and they are processed closer to the time and nearer to where they are caught.
Currently aquaculture provides about one-third of the world seafood supply (including shellfish), and this amount is bound to increase to meet the growing global demand for fish that can not be met by wild fishing alone. Although some popular farmed fish -- like trout, tuna and salmon -- are also caught in the wild, others, such as tilapia and catfish, are almost all farm-raised.
Fish farming can be done responsibly, but not all fish farms are the same. Raising salmon and tuna in ocean pens has contaminated nearby water with waste products, food and antibiotics. There have been cases of genetically modified aquacultured fish escaping into the environment where they compete with the surrounding wild population, and there are studies showing that fish meal, which is the primary component of aquaculture feed for carnivorous species, like salmon and tuna, has elevated levels of environmental toxins, particularly dioxins, like PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl), which accumulate in the flesh of farmed fish. Omnivorous fish, like tilapia and catfish, are fed vegetarian pellets, and don’t have dioxin problems.
Raising fish in inland ponds, lakes and tanks is less environmentally invasive than farming in the ocean (although there is some concern about untreated wastewater discharged from poorly run fish farms contaminating ground water), so the most benign aquaculture products tend to be freshwater fish and the few saltwater varieties farmed on land (sturgeon and turbot).
Farmed Fish
Freshwater:
Carp
Catfish
Eel
Rainbow Trout
Tilapia
Saltwater:
Char
Mahi mahi
Salmon
Sea Bass
Sturgeon
Steelhead Trout
Tuna
Turbot
Yellowtail (amberjack, himachi)
It's an aromatic spice powder made from ground dried sweet bell pepper pods.
Paprika fittingly gets its name from the Latin word for "pepper." Asking for "paprika" in Holland and some other European countries may lead you to the produce aisle, where the word is used as a synonym for red, green, or yellow bell peppers.
Ranging in color from bright red to brown, paprika is used to add color and flavor to rice dishes, soups, sausages such as Spanish chorizo, and stews, including Hungarian goulash or chicken paprikash. Paprika comes in both sweet and hot varieties. But unlike cayenne, whose bright red color signals its pungency, brown paprika is the hottest.
Today, paprika is used widely in dishes throughout Europe and is produced primarily in Spain, South America, California and Hungary. But Hungarians are considered the masters of the spice, producing six varieties. Spanish smoked paprika is particularly in fashion at the moment, but you can also toast paprika for a few minutes in a dry pan to bring out the flavor (be careful as paprika's high sugar content means it burns easily) or combine paprika with cumin for a similar result. Paprika can also be mixed with oil and brushed onto chicken or pork before roasting or grilling to add color. Be sure to store paprika in a dark, dry place and don't let it linger on the shelf too long, as its delicate scent and flavor will fade.
Recipe: Braised Red Cabbage With Smoked Paprika And Sweet Onions (Cookthink)
Recipe: Chicken Paprikash (Cookthink)
Cilantro is the parsley of the East, where it's known as "coriander leaves" or "dhani". (In Mexico, where it's also very popular, it's sometimes called "Mexican parsley".)
If you like cilantro (and some people don't at all), the herb is an easy way to add a beautifully fresh, sweet, fruity flavor to any dish.
To prep it, first rinse and shake dry the leaves. Hold the bouquet at an angle with the leaves against the cutting board. Run your knife down the side of the bouquet to slice away the leaves. It's fine to remove some of the tender stems along with the leaves. (In fact, for salsas, spice pastes, curries and some longer-cooking dishes, the stems add essential, concentrated cilantro flavor.)
Now just run your knife back and forth across the pile of leaves, chopping them as coarsely or as finely as you need to. The closer to the end of the cooking you plan to add the cilantro, the finer you'll want to chop it. But since cilantro is so tender it's usually okay to keep the the chop coarse.
Now that you know how to prep it, try some cilantro recipes at Cookthink.com.
Chopping is probably the most common way to prep an onion. Chopped onions show up in anything that needs the basic, earthy pungent flavor that onions give. Chop them larger for longer-cooking dishes like stews and rustic soups, and smaller (call it a dice if you like) for anything from salsas to sauces to ragouts.
To start, cut the onion in half through the root. The root itself will help keep the onion together for chopping
Rotate the onion 90 degrees and cut off the papery end (not the root end). This will make the skin easy to peel away and discard.
Peel back the onion's papery skin. It's often easiest to peel away the first layer of the onion along with the skin.
Make a series of diagonal cuts (roughly 45 degrees) into the side of the onion. Keep more space between the slices for a large chop. Make the cuts closer together for a small chop or a dice.
Now make a series of horizontal cuts to finish shaping the chop or dice.
Finally, rotate the onion again and slice crosswise against the checkerboard pattern you made in the onion. The chopped pieces will fall away from the onion.
Biting into a raw jalapeño will probably create quite a sting, but on the pepper scale of heat (the Scoville Scale), jalapeños are not really that hot. If you seed and core the pepper, you may not get any heat at all out of a jalapeño.
Some jalapeños are hotter than others. Mature peppers that are dark green and a little wrinkled will be hotter than younger ones. The hottest jalapeños are grown in the hot, dry climates of New Mexico or Arizona.
If you don't know where a jalapeño was grown, you may have to taste it yourself to measure the heat. Don't rely on someone else to tell you whether or not a pepper is too hot. Some people are more sensitive to capsaicin (the chemical that makes hot peppers hot) than others. In junior high, I watched a guy drink a bottle of Tabasco on a dare. He didn't even dab his forehead. If you want to try that at home, you can build up your tolerance to capsaicin by eating more chile peppers and hot sauce.
My father-in-law, Billy, eats raw jalapeños whole from tip to stem. He tells me they are good for his health, and the American Dietetic Association agrees. Peppers are rich in phytochemicals that appear to provide anti-inflammatory benefits. Medical studies show that capsaicin may act as a blood thinner. Spicing dishes with cayenne or pepper flakes also reduces the need for extra salt. Hot sauce, which is actually more salt than pepper, is another story. - Elizabeth Hughey
