What's the point of covering a pot of water you've set to boil?
What's the point of covering a pot of water you've set to boil?
A watched pot never boils? Well, put a cover on said pot and it will boil before you know it, even right before your very eyes. Putting a cover on a pot of water you've set to boil is one of those time- and energy-saving tricks that is so obvious that it just may take years for it to dawn on you.
Covering your pot will trap heat, prevent evaporation, build pressure, and get your water boiling faster. Just remember that once you remove the lid, it will take the water a moment to return to a full boil.
The basis for most soups, many sauces and gravies is a good quality stock or broth. Vegetable broth is one of the most versatile components in a cook's repetoire and it's so easy to make at home!
Starting with the best ingredients will always make the best product. The freshest celery, carrots and onions will make the best mirepoix, which is the de rigeur starting point for a quality vegetable broth.
Sweating the vegetables in a little oil or butter will start the cooking process and allow them to release all of their flavor into the water. Roasting the vegetables in a hot oven is another good way to develop the rich, caramelized notes that are so appealing in soups. You can add in leeks, parsnips or tomato paste to alter the flavor to your taste. Classic additions like whole black peppercorns and bay leaves introduce aromatic layers of flavor.
The best advice for making a good vegetable broth is to take your time. Many recipes for stocks and broths claim that 45 minutes to 1 hour is adequate time to cook all the flavor out of the vegetables, but you may want to keep simmering your stock for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Start tasting it about 45 minutes in and continue every 20 minutes until it tastes full-bodied.
Here's a basic method:
Take equal parts of chopped carrots and celery and sauté them in the stockpot with a double portion of onions. Cut all the vegetables the same size so that the vegetables cook evenly. This is your mirepoix.
Sauté the mirepoix in a little butter or vegetable oil until soft. Use medium heat to just sweat the vegetables, not color them. If using tomato paste or chopped tomatoes, add them to the soft vegetables and cook for 5 minutes to eliminate the raw tomato taste.
Cover your sweated vegetables with enough cold water to cover the vegetables by a few inches.
Add in a bouquet garní made from bay leaves, peppercorns, parsley stems or other herbs.
Bring to a slow boil on medium-high heat; this may take 10-15 minutes. Lower the heat so that the broth is simmering and cover it to slow evaporation.
Start tasting the broth about 45 minutes in, keeping in mind that it will taste raw and watery until about 15 minutes before it's finished. Cool, strain and use in soups, stews or to poach meat, poultry or fish.
Dashi stock is the base of many soups from Japan, including as miso, ramen and soba. It can also be used as a poaching liquid for fish and meats.
The basis for dashi stock is kombu seaweed. Caked with tiny streaks of sea salt, the kombu can be cracked or cut into sheets to make the stock. It imparts the necessary umami, or savory component.
In a stock pot, heat 5 cups of water to almost boiling and add in 1 large sheet of kombu. Remove from heat and let the seaweed steep and plump up. After 5 minutes, remove the kombu.
The next ingredient is bonito flakes -- bits of shaved, smoked and dried skipjack tuna. They add body to the stock.
Reheat the kombu-flavored water to just under boiling, add 2 cups of bonito flakes, take it off the heat and let it steep for 5 minutes.
Strain out the bonito flakes and it's done!
No-knead bread is a no-brainer method for making homemade bread.
Dry ingredients -- bread flour, yeast and salt -- are swirled with a fork.
Water is added and the dough is quickly mixed.
The dough is then covered with cling film and left alone in a warm place for 12 to 18 hours.
After a long rest, the dough is fully risen and ready for basic shaping.
A fold, a roll and a pat into a dome shape and the dough is ready to rest in a cornmeal-covered cloth while the stock pot and oven heat up to 500F.
After 30 minutes in the stock pot, the lid is removed so the loaf browns and the crust can develop.
The interior crumb is soft and dense and richly flavored. The crust is crackly and crunchy, breaking under the fingers and teeth.
