Parchment paper is moisture- and grease-resistant heavy paper that's useful in the kitchen, whether you're making a pouch to cook something en papillote, lining a baking pan to prevent a cake or other preparation from sticking, in need of a pastry bag, or making a collar to line a soufflé dish.
Parchment is made by coating thick paper with silicone that allows it to resist heat and sticking, meaning that you don't have to use extra grease when baking. Unlike wax paper, parchment paper is durable and will not burn.
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.
Golden, fragrant and naturally sweet, honey is the fruit of a long-standing arrangement between men and bees. Worker bees buzz around snatching nectar from the flowers, returning to the hive to concentrate the nectar and stash it in the viscous form of honey. Then the beekeeper snatches the honey from the bees.
Honey can be drizzled in its liquid form, whipped to prevent crystallization or creamed and spread like butter. Finding crystals in your honey is actually a testament to its high quality. To smooth it out, set the honey jar in a pan of freshly boiled water, until the honey turns liquid again.
Honey has longstanding connections to love and sensuality. In the fifth century B.C., Hippocrates prescribed it for "sexual vigor." And Rosh Hashanah is celebrated with honey and honey desserts, to help ensure a sweet coming year.
Recipe: Honey Cake (Cookthink)
Recipe: Breakfast Quinoa With Dried Cranberries, Toasted Walnuts, And Honey (Cookthink)
Recipe: Greek-Inspired Honey-Roasted Shallots (hogwash)
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.
What does it mean to caramelize?
What does it mean to caramelize?
Well, two things, actually.
When it comes to dessert, caramelizing means to heat sugar until it liquifies and turns gold to dark brown depending on its temperature (around 320 to 350F on a candy thermometer). Custards such as crème brûlée are caramelized by sprinkling them with sugar and placing them either under a broiler or salamander or by torching the sugar until it forms a brittle burnt crust. Caramelizing can also technically mean to coat a mold with caramel so that it acts as a glaze when a custard or other dessert is turned out (as in crème caramel or flan).
We also use the word caramelize to describe what happens when we brown meat over high heat to draw out its natural sugars and create a flavorful crust. Vegetables with a high natural sugar content, such as onions, carrots or turnips, can also be caramelized by sautéing them in butter and a bit of water to prevent burning. Fruit such as apples or figs can also be caramelized by sautéing them in butter before sprinkling them with sugar, which gives them a lightly caramelized glaze.
