Cookthink

What is the difference between stock and broth?

The two terms are often used interchangeably but retain an aura of cloudiness like the unskimmed foam on a simmering pot of stock or broth. Stock is the strained liquid that you get once you've cooked various meat, poultry, fish or seafood, vegetables, herbs and seasonings in water. Brown stock is made by browning bones and vegetables first in oil before adding water and/or wine to the pot. Stock is the basis for many a soup, stew and features in many sauces, often reduced. White sauce is made from white stock made with chicken, veal or other poultry; brown sauces incorporate brown stock made from veal, beef or poultry meat and bones. A court-bouillon is also a stock. Vegetable stock is made with vegetables which may or may not have been first sautéed in oil or butter. Broth is also the strained liquid that's left after you've cooked meat, poultry, fish or seafood, vegetables, herbs or seasonings in water. Broth is also called bouillon. Nevertheless, cubes of instant stock that is reconstituted with water as a cooking shortcut are called bouillon cubes. The liquid in a pot-au-feu is also called bouillon.

How to mince garlic

When you want a dish to have quintessential garlic flavor that permeates each bite, mince it. You can mince with a knife, or a garlic press. Either way, you need to free the individual cloves. To do that, press down on the head with the heel of your palm. Apply firm, even pressure so the cloves don't fly all over the place. To peel an individual clove, cut of the hard stem end where the clove attached to the bulb. Either stop the cut just short of the skin on the other side and peel the skin around to remove it, or make the cut all the way through and squeeze out the clove. The older the clove, the easier the skin releases. You can also peel it by setting the side of your knife blade on the clove and pressing down until you feel the skin release, though not hard enough to pulverize it, or the skin will get mixed in with the garlic. To mince with a knife, smash the peeled clove with the side of the knife. Then just run your knife back and forth across the smashed clove, chopping as you go until it's as fine as you like. If you don't want individual little pieces of garlic and have a press, just put the whole peeled clove (or cloves, if you can fit them) in the press and squeeze. Use your knife to trim away any clinging garlic.

Do I need a digital instant-read meat thermometer?

For $10-25, you'll have the most foolproof way to ensure that the meat you cook is done to how you (and the people you're feeding) like it. It's simply the most reliable way to get meat right. Here are the temperatures to aim for. If you're going to let the meat rest before serving it (which is a good idea), take it out 3F (single pieces of meat) to 5F (roasts and whole birds) cooler than the temps listed below: Pork slightly pink: 150F Poultry (chicken, turkey, cornish hen) 160F Beef rare: 125F-130F medium-rare: 130F-135F medium: 135F-150F Lamb rare: 125F medium-rare: 130F medium: 135F Duck Whole duck: 170F in the thigh Breasts: rare: 130F medium-rare: 135F medium: 140F Sausages and ground meat: 170F Note that trichinosis (which used to be danger with under-cooked pork) is killed at 137F. Salmonella is killed at 160F. If you're worried about salmonella, cook everything to 160F.

What is cumin?

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.

What does umami mean?

The tastes of sweet, salty, bitter and sour are familiar, but there is a fifth taste we can perceive with our tongue. Called umami, its taste has been described as rounded, rich and savory. Of the five tastes, umami (a Japanese-coined name) is our favorite to think about when cooking. It’s usually matched with salt to add depth and complexity to foods that may lack depth and complexity on their own. Traditional examples (the map comes from the Umami Information Center) of umami-rich foods include soy sauce, miso paste and bonito flakes in Asian cuisine; and cured ham, cheese, tomatoes, ketchup and mushrooms in Western cuisine. Let’s leave the origin of taste to evolutionary biologists and just agree that our tongues have evolved to make us want the things we need to live. The compounds that exude umami form the essential building blocks of proteins, which we need along with sugar and salt to survive. Somewhere along the line, we developed an aversion to bitter and sour tastes, probably to help us avoid dangerous substances. But we’ve learned to overcome those aversions and often enjoy those tastes, too. Recognizing the power of umami helps us understand our cravings. It also helps explain why we crumble cheese on a roasted beet and arugula salad or why we add a dollop of tomato paste to the base of a stew or why we splash soy sauce in a stir-fry. They all make a meal more satisfying. Recipe: Arugula Salad With Roasted Beets And Ricotta Salata Recipe: Beef Osso Buco Recipe: Stir-Fried Chicken, Bok Choy And Chiles With Basil Image courtesy of the Umami Information Center

How to chop an onion

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.

What makes a tomato an heirloom tomato?

An heirloom is a thing handed down from generation to generation. Is an heirloom tomato then a tomato plant that's been handed down from generation to generation? Sort of. An heirloom tomato is an open-pollinated tomato whose seed grows "true to type" -- meaning, if you plant Cherokee Purple seed, you're going to get Cherokee Purple plants. From generation to generation, that seed will stay true (and so, you could argue, the plant gets "passed down"). Some heirloom tomatoes have, in fact, stayed within one family and so are heirlooms in the truest sense of the word. Other heirloom tomatoes circulate widely. The term "heirloom" was applied to tomatoes (and plants in general) to distinguish traditional varieties (and techniques) from the F1 hybrids of modern seed industry. Seed from an F1 hybrid plant reverts to something in its parentage and so does not stay true from generation to generation. Through years of selection, some hybrids have been "stabilized" or "dehybridized" so that their seeds are true to type. As Phelan from points out, , so the distinction between "hybrid" and "heirloom" is more about age (old vs. new) and hybridizing technique (classically bred vs. GMO). Speaking of age, an heirloom is an old thing. How old does a tomato have to be before it's an heirloom? It's debatable. Some say that to be an heirloom, a tomato must have originated before 1940, when the hybrid seed business began to take off. Others insist that you can't put a date on a label that has more to do with technique than time. To get in on the debate about what is and isn't an heirloom, check out Gardenweb's Growing Tomatoes forum. Recipe: Tomato recipes at Cookthink Resource: The National Gardening Association has an solid introduction on open pollination versus hybridization. If you're looking for hard-to-find heirloom varieties, try the Seed Savers Exchange. Story: Gary Ibsen named one of his open-pollinated tomatoes after Julia Child. Read the story here.

What is a Roma tomato?

The Roma tomato, also called the Italian plum, has an elongated oval, egg or pear shape and comes in red or yellow varieties. Smaller Romas may be called "baby Romas." The Roma is a disease-resistant tomato that makes it widely available and popular with home gardeners. At Cookhink, we lump Roma tomatoes in with all "plum tomatoes." (Find some recipes here.) With few seeds and firm, dense, meaty flesh, Romas have less water content and more pulp than other varieties. This means they break down nicely into tomato sauce and are good candidates for canning, sun- or oven-drying and making tomato paste. Sliced Roma tomato rounds work well as a pizza topping, because they hold their shape and their minimal seeds won't make the pie soggy. Recipe: Quick Roasted Tomatoes With Basil And Goat Cheese (Kalyn's Kitchen) Recipe: Gazpacho With Roasted Tomatoes And Peppers (FatFree Vegan Kitchen)

Why are some jalapenos hotter than others?

When it comes to peppers, being beautiful and popular does not make one hot. To wit, the year-round demand for prettier jalapenos has compromised some of the pepper's hotness. To meet the demand, jalapeno breeding has promoted varieties that are flawlessly pretty, easy to ship and easier to grow in cooler climates. Jalapenos used to be grown mostly in the high deserts of New Mexico, Arizona, and Northern Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico. Hot, dry climates promote the production of capsaicin, the chemical that makes a hot pepper hot. Now, some varieties can be grown in wetter, cooler climates that don’t create enough heat for a spicy chile pepper. If you like a hot jalapeno, look for Biker Billy, Early and Mitla varieties. For a milder version, try Delicas or Tam. Recipe: Mexican Pilaf With Cumin And Jalapeno (Cookthink) Reference: Help! I ate a hot pepper! (Cookthink) Reference: How to seed a chile pepper (Cookthink)