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)
A fritter is a catch-all phrase for a little cake-like morsel of food that's traditionally doused in a batter (or chopped up and combined with batter) and deep-fried.
You can eat fritters as a main course, a side, a dessert or a snack. Fritters can be made from just about any main ingredient, but crab, corn or apples are popular ingredients.
The British are particularly fond of drowning unlikely foodstuffs in batter -- pizza, or Mars bars, for example -- and frying the hell out of them. Fish and chips, no stranger to the deep fat fryer themselves, are often accompanied by additional battered fried fritters that can range from pineapples to peas.
A pescetarian is somebody who eats fish or other creatures of the sea (excluding mammals) but otherwise does not eat meat.
Pescetarians are sometimes called pesco-vegetarians, but they are not strictly vegetarians. Some pescetarians eat eggs and dairy.
By far the most popular type of beer in the world, lager tends to be crisp, nonchalant and easily swillable. If you've had a pilsner, bock, marzen or Colt 45, then you've tasted lager.
What's the difference between a lager and an ale? German for "storehouse," lager refers to the cold rooms where lager is fermented (using bottom-fermenting yeast). Ales are made with top-fermenting yeasts that prefer warmer temperatures.
Lager predates Christopher Columbus, but by the 19th century, the U.S. had developed its own style of lager. Based on the Czech pilsner, the taste of American lagers are generously characterized as "flavor neutral."
Every year, Munich celebrates lager with Oktoberfest.
what you should know
If you were a beer, odds are you'd be a lager.
By far the most popular type of beer in the world, lager tends to be crisp, nonchalant and easily swillable. (Just like you?)
If you've had a pilsner, bock, marzen or Colt 45, then you've tasted lager.
lager vs. ale What's the difference between a lager and an ale? German for "storehouse," lager refers to the cold rooms where lager is fermented (using bottom-fermenting yeast). Ales are made with top-fermenting yeasts that prefer warmer temps.
ancient history Lager predates Christopher Columbus, but by the 19th century, the U.S. had developed its own style of lager. Based on the Czech pilsner, the taste of American lagers are generously characterized as "flavor neutral." (Monty Python fans will know why American beers are like making love in a canoe.)
golden days Every year, Munich celebrates lager with Oktoberfest. If you can't make it, Eric Asimov can recommend some fine steins to drink at home.
what you need
This simple beer kit is a good way to get started if you think you're interested in home brewing.
There is no better way to proclaim your love of lager than with a wall-mounted beer-opener.
Author Maureen Ogle counterintuitively sings the praises of big, consistent American beer in Ambitious Brew.
If you aren't drinking from the bottle, try these classy pilsner glases. For something slightly less classy, there is always the funnel.
what you do
Need a little hair of the dog? Mix a Michelada to ease the pain.
Bring a barbecue classic indoors and make this beer can chicken in your oven.
While an English ale seems more fitting for fish and chips, we prefer to wash them down with the light, crisp flavor of a lager.
All the talk of cold beer has us craving spicy shrimp (Brys), Asian mussels (Kristin), onion rings (Claire), black bean soup (Corinne) and chicken and sausage gumbo (Chip).
Turkey and red bean chili will keep you warm as the nights grow cold.
Featured: Munch on these pepper jack and lager grissini, this week's Root Source Challenge featured recipe. Congratulations to Cafe Lynnylu!
Find more lager recipes at Cookthink.com. And if you haven't yet signed up for a free account at Cookthink, do it now!
Russet or Idaho potatoes have a high starch and low moisture content, meaning they bake well, are fluffy when mashed and make excellent French fries. Because they tend to fall apart when cooked, use a waxy variety when making a potato salad or a gratin.
Potato starch or potato flour, made by grinding cooked, dried potatoes, is a gluten-free thickening agent. Be careful not to boil a preparation once it has been thickened with potato starch. Potato starch is also an approved ingredient for Jewish Passover preparations, because it is not grain-based like cornstarch.
Store potatoes in a cool, dark place. Refrigeration will turn their starch to unwanted sugar, making them grow unpleasantly dark when cooked.
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.
