KitchenSavvy

Getting Cheeky

I see a lot  dishes at fancy restaurants featuring beef cheeks.  What are they, and how are they best prepared?

--Alana

Beef cheeks are exactly what they sound like.  They are the muscles in the facial cheeks of cattle.  They are a finely textured meat with some internal silverskin.

Following the general rule that the more a muscle is used, the tougher it gets when cooked, beef cheeks are best marinaded overnight and then braised in a long, slow process.  This technique produced the tenderest results.  You can use your favorite recipe for braised beef ribs, classic French Boeuf en Daube, or even Osso Bucco recipe, although the last one may need to cook longer at a lower temperature. Personally, I would lean toward something that uses a full bodied red wine and a hearty beef stock.

If you can't find a beef cheeks, brisket or flank can be used instead, although the texture may be not quite as fine.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

What Makes Some Onions Sweet

Why are some onions such as Walla Wallas or Vadalias sweeter than others?

--Syl

Onions such as Walla Wallas, Vadalias, Mauis and others are sweet because they have lower quantities of the sulfur compounds that cause the "bite" associated with more pungent onions.  There is some discussion as to whether this is because the particular variety is less capable of making the sulfur compounds or if perhaps because they are grown in soil that has very low quantities of sulfur and therefore less is absorbed into the plant. In either case, these are the same compounds that cause your eyes to sting and water when you are cutting onions (see I Never Hurt an Onion, So Why Did It Make Me Cry?). Sweet onions are preferred by some cooks in recipes where they are served raw, such as in salads or sandwiches.  If you are cooking the onions though, it makes more sense to use less expensive varieties such as common yellow onions.  The reason for this is that the sulfur compounds cook out as the onions are sautéed.  If you are caramelizing onions for something like a pissaladiere (see Flavor Layering) or to make French onion soup, it is nearly impossible to tell whether the onions you started with were a sweet or regular variety.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Creaming Butter II

My wife says I have to cream butter and sugar with electric beaters in one direction only. She says this will help incorporate the air into the mix and make it creamy.  I seem to be getting results moving the beater through the mix ad hoc. Is there any science to beating in one direction for the purposes of creaming butter?

--Ling

Because of its complexity and the fact that cooking has evolved over thousands of years, it tends to be filled with both sound, provable science and popular folklore.  For example, one similar "rule" is that you need to stir in one only direction when making a custard and that changing direction or  whisking in a random pattern will cause the custard to curdle.  I can say with certainty that the custard thing is false, because I never bother to stir in just one direction and my custards don't curdle.

I know of no science that would either support or disprove your wife's theory but looking over my various references, I can't find any that say creaming needs to be done by beating the ingredients in only one direction.

On the face of it, I also can't think of any good reason why it would be so.  As I explained in the posting "Creaming Butter" the purpose of creaming is to incorporate air into the butter to help leaven the final product.  According to Corriher, creaming is perhaps the most important step in making good cakes.  Air bubbles are incorporated both from the air trapped between grains of sugar when mixing starts, and then by air blended in by the mechanical action.  Neither of these would appear to depend on what direction the beaters move during blending.  In fact, at the level of the beaters, regardless of how you move your hand, one blade is going clockwise while the other goes counterclockwise!

To test whether the direction of beating makes a difference, you would need to compare cakes made by creaming the butter by beating in only one direction versus cakes made when the beating is in random directions.  You would need to be careful to control every other aspect of the cakes -- the ingredients would need to be accurately measured, the butter would need to be at the same temperature starting and ending, and the beating time would need to be the same duration.  The cakes would then need to be cooled to the same temperature and under the same conditions.

After all of that, what I'm guessing you would learn is more likely that there are so many steps, involving so many factors, that ascribing differences in the result to the direction in which the butter is creamed is too simplistic.

The bottom line is that if your "ad hoc" beating technique produces good cakes, then you have shown that direction doesn't matter.  Now, go and enjoy your cake.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

How to Tell if Eggs are Fresh

I have a carton of eggs without a best-before date on it.  I think I have had the eggs for about two or three weeks.  Is there any way to tell if they are fresh?

--Lin

There are two ways to tell how fresh your eggs are, but you need to remember that these are rough guidelines and that they don't necessarily tell you if the eggs are safe to eat.

The first method is to fill a container with cold water.  If your egg is fairly fresh, it will sink to the bottom of the bowl and lay on its side, maybe tilted a little toward the rounder end up.  As the egg gets older, it loses moisture and the air sac inside the rounder end enlarges.  A somewhat older egg may still sink to the bottom of the bowl, but will rest on the pointy end.  If the egg floats with the round end slightly above water, then it is old and should be discarded.

The container needs to be deep enough that you can clearly see if the egg is submerged, touching the bottom, or floating.  A four cup (one liter) glass measuring cup is ideal for this test.

If you were planning to crack the egg anyway, you can also tell the freshness by emptying the egg onto a flat dish, such as a side plate.  If the egg is completely fresh, the white will stay together and mound up noticeably around the yolk so that it clearly can be seen to have two levels.  The yolk will be rounded and well domed.  As the egg get older, the white becomes more runny, spreads more on the plate and doesn't rise around the yolk.  The yolk also becomes flatter.  If the white is watery and shows little or no rise in level around the yolk, then the egg is quite old.

As I said above though, these are tests only of the age of an egg and don't tell you about the safety.  improperly stored eggs can be contaminated and still pass these tests.  For safety, always try to be sure and buy eggs in a carton with a clear date, keep them in the carton, and don't move eggs from one partly used carton into another.  Always use eggs before the best-before date.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Flour Mix-up

Hi! I have two containers of flour one of which is self-rising. The labels have gotten mixed up. Is there a way to tell which flour is the self-rising? Best,

--Mike

Your question got me to thinking about all sorts of different ways to tell the difference, but after a little head scratching,  I think this is maybe the easiest.

Take two tablespoons of flour from one of the containers and mix it with about three tablespoons of plain vinegar.  The consistency should be about that of pancake batter or heavy cream. If necessary, add more liquid. Make another similar mixture with flour from the second container.  Leave them sit for a couple of minutes.

Self-rising flour is regular flour with baking powder and salt already added to it.  Baking powder is a combination of baking soda and a powdered acid (see Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder). The surface of the mixture made with self-rising flour will have small bubbles over it from the reaction of the vinegar with the baking soda.

The mixture made with regular flour may have a few bubbles from air that got mixed in, but far fewer than the other one.

The same thing will happen if you just use plain water, but the vinegar makes it easier to see the difference.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Inconsistent Gelatin Results

I find that I get inconsistent results when I use gelatin.  Even for the same recipe, sometimes it will come out softer or firmer than other times.  What is happening?

--Sara

Gelatin is a protein-based thickening agent used primarily in making desserts, aspics and jellies.  It comes in a powdered form which is easy and convenient for home cooks, and in a sheet form which is more often used commercially.   It can be tricky to get good results though, for a number of reasons.

First, despite the assurances of the manufacturers of the envelopes of gelatin which state that they are supposed to contain just enough to thicken two cups, never trust the contents to be measured accurately.  In my own kitchen, I have found up to about a 25% variation in the amount of gelatin in a pouch.  That is enough to make a difference in the result.

Gelatin should be soaked for about five minutes in a cool liquid first, before being heated or combined with hot liquids.  This soaking allows moisture to penetrate into the granules so that they will dissolve more readily in heat.  If you pour powdered gelatin directly into a boiling liquid, it will form clumps that take longer to dissolve.  Gelatin that remains undissolved results in a grainy texture and does not help to thicken the dish.

According to Corriher, gelatin loses some of its thickening power when boiled.  It should be heated only until fully dissolved, or should have the hot liquids added to it off heat, depending on your recipe.

Also, other ingredients such as sugar and salt can affect the result.  Salt will interfere with the bodong of protein molecules, making a weaker product, while sugar will attract water away from the gelatin molecules, causing a firmer result.

If you are using fruit, be sure it is not one that can affect the setting of gelatin, such as raw pineapple or kiwi (see Jellied Fruit Salad Won't Set). 

Acids found in fruit juices, wines and other ingredients can also affect the result by making the gelatin proteins less likely to bind together, by creating an electrical charge on the molecules which force them to repel each other.

Finally, when cooling jellies or other foods containing gelatin, resist the temptation to put it in the freezer, as the gelatin molecules need to move freely in the cooling liquid so that they can become entangled.  Too fast of cooling can prevent this from happening.  According to Harold McGee, jellies that are snap-chilled will regain a more normal consistency after a few days.

While not as fussy as some ingredients, gelatin does require some care in measurement of the ingredients used in preparing any dish.

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For fans of KitchenSavvy, our local paper, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, recently ran an article titled "In the Kitchen with ... Dave and Patricia Katz".  This is the most recent installment of their In the Kitchen series.  In the article you can find five of our favorite recipes including Pissaladiere, which is already posted here, and Shrimpniks, a lemon-butter-garlic shrimp recipe created in tribute to Cousin Nik's restaurant, which we used to like goiing to before it went out of business.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Schmaltz

What is Schmaltz?  How is it made?

--Brad

Schmaltz is the rendered fat of chickens, used in traditional Jewish cooking.  The word comes from the Yiddish for "chicken fat."

It's made by cutting  the skin and fat from the birds into small pieces (1" or 2.5 cm square) and placing them into a saucepan with a small onion that had been cut into slices, a 1/4 cup of water, and optionally half an apple, peeled, cored and sliced.

The whole lot is brought to a boil over medium heat until the water has completely cooked away.  Reduce the heat and watch for the skin and onions to start to become dark golden brown.  At this point, the fat can be strained off from the solids and kept for cooking.  Let the pieces of skin drain on a paper towel, salt lightly and eat like cracklings.  The cooked onion can be saved and incorporated into other dishes, such as chopped liver.

Because Jewish kosher law prohibits the use of dairy and meat in the same meal, schmaltz is often used as a replacement for butter, either in cooking or as a spread.  Kept refrigerated, schmaltz has a long shelf life.

Schmaltz may also be made from duck or other poultry, although chicken is most common.

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On another note, CJ Katz (no relation, as far as I know) from Regina, author of the Savour Life e-zine, took a shot at one of my favorite peeves -- outmoded and inedible garnishes.  She scored a bullseye, as far as I'm concerned, especially when it comes to rosemary.  Sure, I love the smell of the stuff and cook with it often, but lumber is not a garnish.

The article fits well with my frequent rants in KitchenSavvy about the attention to detail and style that make a restaurant stand out.  It appears in the setting, the flavors, the presentation, the attitude of the wait staff, and even the garnish.

There is a subscribe button on the page banner for Savour Life.  It's worth doing.

Well done, CJ.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Difference Between "Free Run" and "Free Range" Eggs

At the grocery store recently, I bought a cartoon of what I thought were free range eggs.  When I got home, I noticed that the package said "free run."  What is the difference?

--Glenda

Eggs can come from hens that are 'free range", "free run" or "battery".  The image people are most familiar with is that of "battery hens", crowded into cages with very little room to move.  Feed is placed in a trough at the front of the cage and eggs that are laid roll across the sloped floor so that they can be easily gathered.

On the other end of the spectrum is the idyllic thought of hens free to roam about the great outdoors, pecking their food from the ground and nesting where they wish.  This is the "free range" chicken.

Between these two is the "free run" hen, which is given the freedom to move about an enclosed barn and provided with nesting boxes in which to lay eggs.

In practice, many free range chickens, while they may have access to the outdoors, still rely on the shelter and safety of the barn and so are more like free run chickens than the mental image suggests.  In colder climates, such as Canada, hens are only able to be free range for part of the year.

While free range and free run eggs come from chickens that are handled in a more humane fashion, they are more difficult to gather and may have been laid in less sanitary conditions, making the labor costs and spoilage factors higher than for battery chickens.  This accounts for some portion of the increased price for these eggs.

There is little or no oversight of the industry to make sure that packing claims reflect actual conditions.  Nutritionally, the eggs from all three sources are quite similar.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com
Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Lox and Gravlox

As an appetizer for entertaining at Easter, I was planning to serve Lox and Caviar on Blini.  Now I wonder, "What is the difference between Lox and Gravlox?"  Which one was I thinking of?

--Ruth

Lox is salmon that has been brined and then cold smoked.  The brine contains salt and sometimes sugar.  Smoking is done at temperatures ranging from about 70°F to 90°F ( 21°C to 32°C).  Brining enhances the flavor and helps to preserve the fish, as does the smoking.

Gravlox (or gravlax) is a Scandinavian dish where salmon is liberally covered with a mixture of salt and sugar, and usually dill weed, and then left to cure for several days, during which time the salt cures the meat in that same way as corned beef, for instance.  Other ingredients such as sliced onions may also be included.  Supposedly the start of the word gravlox ("grav") refers to the original method being to bury the salmon ("lox") in the earth while it cured, that is in a grave.  Nowadays, gravlox is made in the refrigerator.

In either case, once cured the meat is sliced into thin strips which are then eaten raw.  Either lox and gravlox would be suitable to serve.  The choice is up to you, and depends on whether you would enjoy the smoky flavor of lox against the taste of the caviar or would prefer more of a sweet and salty combination, which you would get with gravlox.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Creaming Butter

So many cake and cookie recipes say to cream together the butter and sugar.  Why is this done and how do I do it right?

--Amber

To cream butter means to beat it together with the sugar in the recipe until it is light in color and no sugar crystals are visible.  With white sugar, the butter will take on a light yellow color, almost white.  If your recipe uses brown sugar, then the color will turn to a light tan.  While it is possible to cream butter by hand, it is much faster and more convenient to use an electric mixer.  The purpose of creaming is to incorporate air into the butter to help leaven the final product.  According to Corriher, creaming is perhaps the most important step in making good cakes.

Creaming also softens the butter and makes it easier to blend with the other ingredients.

To cream butter properly, start with cold butter.  While some recipes say to start with butter that has been allowed to soften until nearly room temperature, this runs the risk of having it become too warm during mixing.  T0 trap air bubbles, it has to remain below its melting point of 68°F (20°C).

I usually start with butter straight out of the fridge which I rough cut into small cubes, maybe about a quarters of an inch (2 cm) to a side.  Exact size doesn't matter.  Put the butter into the mixing bowl and blend at slow speed until it starts to soften, then add the sugar.  Beat for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the power and speed of your mixer.  As long as the butter remains cold enough, there is no risk to beating it for too long.

During beating, friction from the beater may warm the butter and it may start to melt.  If this happens, then put the mixing bowl and beaters into the fridge until the butter becomes firm again, about 15 to 30 minutes, and then pick up where you left off.

Remember during this step to stop occasionally and scrape down the sides of the bowl so that all of the butter is creamed, otherwise it may not blend completely with the other ingredients and could affect the quality of the final product.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward