What's the point of sifting flour?
What's the point of sifting flour?
Originally, the point of sifting flour used to be to remove lumps and the occasional insect, although modern flour is generally free of those concerns. If you don't buy pre-sifted flour, sifting can still be a good idea for a number of reasons.
First, it loosens up flour that has been sitting around in storage for a long time, aerating it and helping your baked goods to have a lighter texture. It's also a good idea to sift flour if you are combining it with other ingredients, such as salt, baking powder or soda, or cocoa powder, to give the mixture a homogeneous texture.
Flour can be sifted either with an old-fashioned sifter, or by shaking flour through a sieve. Dry ingredients can also be whisked together with a wire whisk in a pinch, which also helps lighten up the flour.
Nevertheless, some people think that sifting flour is a pain, and skip it altogether, claiming they don't notice the difference. Do you?
Recipe: Sour Cream Bundt Cake (VeganYumYum)
Recipe: Banana Hazelnut Upside-Down Cake (Hogwash)
What's the difference between white and brown eggs?
What's the difference between white and brown eggs?
Don't judge an egg by its shell. Whether an eggshell is white or brown is determined by the breed of the hen who laid the eggs. It has absolutely nothing to do with taste or nutritional value.
The only time you may want to consider the color of the eggs you're buying is around Easter and Passover time, since white eggs work better for dyeing and decorating purposes.
What can't you do with an egg? You can't grill it, but you can boil it, broil it, fry it, roast it, scramble it, simmer it, steam it or drop it from 10 meters in a balsam wood cage.
incredible The really amazing thing about the egg is the versatility of textures it can create. It can be as light as a meringue, and as dense as a pound cake. It all depends on how you rearrange an egg's proteins--break them apart and whip them full of air, or use them to bind together heavier ingredients like cream and sugar.
colorblind Some chickens produce white eggs, others brown. Some are even blue. Among the common grocery store offerings, there isn't too much difference, whatever the color.
put together An egg is made up of a couple of different components: a semi-permeable outer shell, a viscous "albumen" or white, and the center yolk, which is also made up of microscopic layers. Many recipes call for either the yolk or the white alone. Don't worry, separating them is is easy enough to do.
sinker As eggs age, they gradually lose moisture through the pores inthe shells. So an old egg will be much less dense than a new one. You can test an egg's relative freshness by putting it in a bowl of cold water; the fresher it is, the faster it sinks. And if it floats, toss it out.
no boil Don't let the name fool you. Actual boiling water is too violent for cooking eggs; the constant bubbling shifts them around, possibly cracking the shell and letting the white leak out. Eggs should be cooked in barely simmering water, 3-5 minutes for soft boiled or coddled eggs, 10-15 minutes for hard boiled.
what you need
A nonstick pan is almost essential for eggs. It lets you fry or scramble or make an omelet without using a lot of butter. Unless you want to, of course.
For the true egg devotee, try any of the recipes in The Good Egg: More than 200 Fresh Approaches from Breakfast to Dessert. Make sure to pick up a few dozen eggs first.
If you're a stickler for perfectly round fried eggs (it can't overlap your English muffin, after all), try an egg form.
what you do
The lightest of desserts, this Apple Snow will look graceful on any table.
Try your eggs Passover- style with Matzo Brie. Think of it as Jewish French toast.
When scrambled eggs grow up, they become quiche. And what little scramble wouldn't want to be an elegant Quiche Lorraine?
These Spicy Baked Eggs with Tofu are great for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or that late-night craving.
featured recipe
This springy Pasta with Leeks, Asparagus, Mushrooms, And Fried Eggs is the featured recipe of this week's Root Source Challenge. We loved the creaminess of the cheese combined with the yolk of the egg. Congratulations to Amy and Jonny of We Are Never Full.
Cornmeal is a kind of flour or meal that is made from ground sweet corn. It comes in yellow, white, blue or red varieties, depending on the type of corn used.
Since cornmeal is gluten-free, fine and medium cornmeal is usually mixed with wheat flour to create a crumbly texture in baked goods like cornbread or corn muffins. Coarsely ground cornmeal is frequently labeled polenta or grits after the two dishes in which it is the main ingredient.
Cornmeal products are a native staple food in the Americas and today cornmeal is used to make tortillas, tamales, fry bread and popular Mexican drinks. Colonial settlers in the U.S. called cornmeal Indian meal and were fond of so-called cornmeal mush made from boiling cornmeal in water -- like the hasty pudding mentioned in the song Yankee Doodle Dandy. Italians have been making polenta -- yellow cornmeal boiled with water, stock or milk that is eaten as a porridge or cooled and cut into slices and grilled or fried -- since corn invaded Europe in the 1500s and Indian mush has has recently returned to fashion in the United States under an Italian name.
In some parts of Europe, cornmeal may be labeled maize flour. Although the term cornflour is sometimes used to denote the finest grind of cornmeal in the United States, elsewhere it may actually refer to cornstarch.
Cornmeal can also be sprinkled on a baking tray to help keep dishes like free-form galettes or turnovers from sticking in the oven.
Steel-ground cornmeal, which is most commonly found on American shelves, is processed to remove the husk and germ of the maize kernel and stays fresh for as long as you need it if kept in a tightly sealed or air-tight container out of direct sunlight.
Stone- or water-ground cornmeal -- which is processed using millstones -- retains some of the husk and germ, making it more nutritious and also more perishable. Keep stone-ground cornmeal in the refrigerator to prevent its natural oils from going rancid; it will last up to 4 months.
Both baking soda and baking powder are leaveners, which means they make cakes and muffins rise. So what's the difference?
Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate. Not only will baking soda fluff up your muffins, it can also put out a grease fire, clean your teeth and deodorize your carpet. When you cook with baking soda, you need to balance it out with an acid like lemon juice or buttermilk. Otherwise, your muffins may have a bitter, soapy flavor.
Baking powder, which usually comes in a can, is a combination of baking soda and a few other ingredients, most notably cream of tartar, a dry acid. Out of baking powder? Make your own by mixing one part baking soda with two parts cream of tartar.
