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's the difference between jelly and jam?
What's the difference between jelly and jam?
Like jam, jelly (in the North American sense) is a spread made from fruit and sugar that is thickened with natural or added pectin.
Both jelly and jam are made with crushed fruit, but jelly-makers filter fruit pulp once the mixture has been heated so that the resulting jelly is clear and devoid of fruit chunks.
Jelly can be sweet (as in the ever-popular grape jelly), savory (like the mint jelly that accompanies roasted lamb on old-fashioned British tables) or hot (such as jalapeño jelly).
what you should know
Unsalted butter is always equally unsalted, but salted butter is never quite salted the same.
The NaCl uncertainty is the main reason we prefer to use unsalted butter when we cook. Often that salt can subdue the sweet flavor of butter. (Unsalted butter is often labeled as "sweet butter.")
salt conversion In most recipes, the little extra salt will go unnoticed. Still, as a general rule if a recipe calls for unsalted butter but all you've got is salted butter, cut 1/4 teaspoon of salt per stick of butter (1/2 cup) you use.
stick it up Salt acts as a preservative for butter. Tightly wrapped in foil and stored in the fridge, salted butter can last for five months, while unsalted butter lasts about three before going stale. (Spot stale butter by slicing into the stick; the outside will be darker than the inside.) Then again, many people don't store butter in the fridge to begin with.
cooking with butter Sometimes, when you want a nuttier flavor, you'll want to let the butter's foam subside. But butter has a low smoke point, so be careful using it as your cooking fat. It'll burn easily. Clarified butter, or ghee, has a higher smoke point (and also makes a tasty dipping sauce for crab, lobster and anything else).
roux-dimentary Butter forms the foundation for countless classic sauces and thickeners, including béchamel, beurre manié and roux.
what you need
Have you ever wanted to make fresh butter at home? This traditional butter churn is based on the famous Dazey churn from the early 20th century.
You can also make a small batch of butter by putting cream in a jar and shaking it for a long, long time until you've shaken it solid.
The water-cooled crock owners we know swear by the constant supply of creamy, spreadable butter they keep on their tables.
Other butter lovers who shun the refrigerator prefer the classic rectangular butter dish.
what you do
Sage and butter are absolutely delicious together. How delicious? Try this rich and pillowy tortellini with sage brown butter and parmesan to find out.
Steamy Kitchen likes to top her slow butter- braised asparagus with parmesan and sea salt. With that savory finale, you definitely don't need salted butter.
Drizzling roasted sweet potatoes with cilantro-lime butter gives them a burst of tart richness.
Salted butter might interfere with the complex sugar-spice interaction in these orange-scented popovers with cinnamon-orange honey.
These better-for-you whole-grain flapjacks from hogwash are made with quinoa, millet and flaxseed. After using butter to grease the pan, you can afford to use a little extra on the cakes themselves.
Coconut & Lime's worked out one of the fastest and tastiest cinnamon bun recipes out there.
Cream cheese is a soft, unripened mixture of cream and milk that contains at least 33% fat. Its spreadable quality and mild flavor have made it a popular topping for bagels, toast and or crackers. It's also commonly used for flavor and texture in dips, omelettes, soups, frostings and cakes.
The original cream cheese is credited to New York dairyman, William Lawrence, who sold his cheese under the "Philadelphia" label because that city had a reputation for high-quality foods at that time (late 19th century). Eventually, Lawrence sold his company to the Phoenix Cheese Company of New York. Years later, it was sold again to Kraft.
Cream cheese's predecessor, American neufchâtel, is experiencing a renaissance of sorts because it has less fat and a lighter texture than its more popular cousin. Distinct from French neufchâtel, which has a rind, American neufchâtel is unripened and spreadable like cream cheese.
