Cooking

A self-rising flour is an ingredient found in scones, muffins or biscuits. If you don’t have it on hand, no weed to worry; there’s a good chance you have everything already at home. This flour is used in all types of baked goods, even some cake recipes. It’s a convenient shortcut as the flour will cause the batter or dough to expand while the salt will season the final baked good. A self-rising flour is not a substitute for all-purpose flour. Most of the time, a recipe that calls for all-purpose flour will include baking powder and salt in the ingredient list. Using a self rising flour will result in an abundance of baking powder and salt, possibly ruining the recipe. Prep time: 5 minsTotal time: 5 minsYield: 1 cup Ingredients 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt Directions Combine the ingredients, then whisk: Add the flour, baking powder, and sea salt to a bowl, then whisk thoroughly to combine. Label and store: Use the self-rising flour right away or store it in a labeled airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 year. Source: Simply Recipes

A homemade muffin is the best answer to an easy breakfast while heading to the office. However, even a good blueberry muffin often faces a problem when the fruit sinks to the bottom and bursts, gluing itself to the paper lining or pan. One trick to solving this dilemma is holding off on mixing the fruit in your muffin batter. Instead, drop a bit of the plain batter to each muffin cavity to create a thin layer. You can then gently fold in your mix-ins to the remaining batter. Proceed with placing the mixed batter over the plain batter, dividing evenly as needed. Continue to bake as normal. The layer of plain batter at the bottom will prevent the berries from sinking to the bottom of the pan and bursting. This method works with lined or unlined pans, making clean-up a breeze. It’ll also work with other berry mix-ins, dried fruit or even chocolate chips. Source: the Kitchn

There are plenty of tips out there that claim to help you hang onto the color of pesto. From blanching the basil leaves to adding a bit of lemon juice, chefs all have their own tricks for pesto. One trick you probably haven’t heard of: an ice cube. Pesto has come a long way from the traditional mortar and pestle to modern food processors. A step you can skip is the blanching of basil. This process involves tossing the leaves into a pot of boiling water then quickly transferring them to an ice bath and squeezing the leaves dry before blending the pesto. Instead, drop an ice cube into the bowl of the food processor when pulsing the basil. The ice will shock the herbs and prevent them from browning. You can do this with any type of pesto with other herbs and greens such as parsley, mint or arugula. The ice will rattle in the processor at first, but will melt and break down as you pulse the pesto. Any leftover ice bits will dissolve when you blend in the olive oil. You’ll end up with a vibrant green pesto without any complicated techniques or extra steps. Source: the Kitchn

Cutting fruits and vegetables is all in the grip. There are 4 tips for safer and smarter chopping you can follow. Making sure the cutting board won’t slip Using the “claw grip” method when cutting Stabilizing your food Keeping your knives sharp Keep Your Cutting Board From Slipping You first want to make sure your cutting board isn’t moving around while you’re using it. Chopping on an unstable surface could potentially lead to accidents. Some boards come with rubber feet on the bottom which are great for stabilizing the board. If yours doesn’t, use a damp kitchen towel or a rubber mat underneath the cutting board. The Claw Grip Protect your finger while also stabilizing your ingredient with the “claw grip”. This method takes your non-dominant hand’s fingers to form a claw. Press your fingertips and a bit of your fingernails into the food itself to hold it stable. It also protects your fingers in case the knife slips. As you move down the food and the pieces get smaller, it’s important to curl and tuck your fingertips under as you grip the food. This will also help grip your ingredient as it continues to shrink. Put the Cut Side Down You want to create a flat surface to secure your food. Doing so will prevent any rocking or slipping while cutting. For example, if you are cutting an onion you want to prevent it from rolling around on the table. Cut the onion in half and place the cut side down before chopping it into pieces. Combining this method with the claw grip will ensure you can safely and securely cut any fruit or vegetable. Keep Knives Sharp If you’re struggling to cut through a potato, it may be time to sharpen your knife. A knife should easily cut through ingredients without damaging them. A dull knife can be more dangerous than a sharp one since it requires more pressure which could cause you to lose your grip. You can take your knife to be professionally sharpened at least once every six months or more depending on use. Source: Simply Recipes

We all know the pain of making a batch of cinnamon rolls and turning around to find you’re out of powdered sugar. Without extra time to run to the store, missing out on this key ingredient could spill disaster for many recipes. However, there’s a solution if you have white sugar and a food processor or blender around. Powdered sugar is white cane sugar that has been pulverized to a fine powder. You can achieve the same result with a bit of cornstarch and just a few minutes of time. Prep time: 2 minsTotal: 10 minsTotal time: 12 minsServings: 16 servingsYield: 2 cups Ingredients 2 cups granulated white sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch Directions Combine the sugar and cornstarch: Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a blender jar or bowl of a food processor. Pulverize the sugar: Turn the machine on to high speed and run 3 to 5 minutes. The time will depend on your blender or food processor; some high speed blenders will take as few as 3 minutes. Stop the machine every few minutes to scrape down the sides to make sure all the sugar gets evenly pulverized. Check the texture of the sugar: The sugar is done when it feels fine and powdery when you rub it between your fingers; if it’s still gritty, keep processing. Use right away or store for later: The powdered sugar may be hot from the friction of the machine. If it is, let it cool before putting in an airtight container or zip top bag. Like regular powdered sugar, it will keep indefinitely. Source: Simply Recipes

No matter what kind of grill you have, you’ll need two heat zones to cook a steak. A high heat area for searing and a medium heat area to finish it to the desired level. Here’s how to set it up. Searing is a technique where food is cooked at a high temperature until a browned crust forms due to the Maillard reaction. This high heat causes the molecules to rearrange themselves and set off multiple reactions that brown the steak and unlock the flavor and aroma. It’s about 500 degrees F for perfect seared steak. If the steak is left on this heat for too long the crust will burn and produce a bitter taste. Moving the steak to a medium side of the grill will maintain flavor and allow the steak to cook to the preferred doneness. When setting up your cooking zones on a charcoal grill, bank most of the hot coals to one side of the grill. This will serve as the high heat zone while the other side will be the medium heat zone. Open your vents wider to heat up the grill and close them to cool the grill down. If you have a gas grill, turn two knobs to high and let the grill heat for about 10 minutes. Once it reaches temperature, turn one knob down to medium to create the medium heat zone. You can test the cooking zones by holding your hand three inches about the hot zone. If you can hold your hand for two seconds, the grill is ready for searing. The medium zone is ready if you can hold your hand there for 5 to 7 seconds. Don’t forget that charcoal is the hottest 5 to 10 minutes after lighting. You may be tempted to sear right away but it could take about 25 minutes for the medium zone to reach temperature. Wait until almost all the charcoal is white and has stopped smoking. Source: Simply Recipes

Burgers are a quintessential summer meal. There’s nothing like a classic burger for dinner with family or a backyard barbeque. They’re versatile, easy to prepare and always a crowd pleaser. But there’s one ingredient to make burgers even more flavorful without any fussy preparation, yellow mustard! This tip is used among chefs and popular burger chains. Just brushing a bit of mustard on an uncooked side of a patty after the initial sear yields satisfying results. The mustard method is common in barbecue in South Carolina, typically for meat while it slowly cooks. It’s also similar to adding mayonnaise to bread for a better grilled cheese. The mustard will melt on a hot burger, then the heat will caramelize the bite to complement the meat. It’ll also serve as another source of seasoning since mustard usually contains salt, sugar, vinegar and other seasonings. If yellow mustard isn’t your go-to, try out different mustards instead! You don’t need any special tools to get the same effect. Source: the Kitchn

It’s the time of year again where those grills are fired up after months of staying dormant. There’s nothing better than delicious charred vegetables, seared steaks or classic BBQ chicken. Most grill recipes will call for a clean, oiled grill. You may think this requires extensive scrubbing and scouring. However, if you’re cleaning your grills more than twice a season, you’re cleaning it too much. You only need to deep clean your grill twice a year, at the beginning and the end of the grilling season. When it’s time to fire up your grill again, it has probably been sitting around for months collecting pollen, leaves, and even small bugs or spiders. Take the time to check all parts of your grill including propane connections, drip pans, heat shields and grates. Wipe down the inside and outside of the grill and make sure all connections are secure. Over time, grill grates will collect stuck-on grease and grime from all the grilling. A paste made of baking soda and soap can work wonders to break down heavy grime. Another option relies on the grease-busting power of an oven cleaner. However, when it comes to ongoing maintenance, you don’t need to bring out the scouring scrub after every session. A sturdy grill brush after each use will easily remove greasy debris. Source: the Kitchn

Grilling pizza might seem a bit confusing at first, but can offer you greater flavor than an oven normally would. The charcoal better mimics the wood fired ovens that pizzas are normally made in. It also leaves the heat outside during a hot summer day, no firing up an oven and making your home hotter than it should be! The dough doesn’t fall through the grates and will form a lightly browned crust if prepared correctly. Servings: 4 to 6 servingsYield: 2 Grilled Pizzas Ingredients: Pizza dough Extra virgin olive oil Pizza toppings: tomato sauce, herbs, mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, or pepperoni All-purpose flour or corn meal to dust the cookie sheet or pizza peel Directions: Make the dough: You can either make pizza dough from scratch or use prepared pizza dough. Both will work. Prep grill and toppings: Prepare the grill for high direct heat. Prepare a small bowl with olive oil for greasing the grill grates and for brushing the pizza. Prepare the toppings so they are ready to go on the pizza—tomato sauce, cheese, and anything else you wish. Stretch and shape the pizza dough: Shape the pizza dough by flattening it with your hands on a lightly floured surface. Either use your fingers to stretch the dough out, or hold up the edges of the dough with your fingers, letting the dough hang and stretch, while working around the edges of the dough.Once you’ve stretched the dough, let it sit for 5 minutes and then push out the edges with your fingers again, until you have a nice round shape, about 12-inches in diameter. Do not make a raised rim, it will interfere with the grilling process.Note that if you are preparing the pizza dough for a party, you can make several pizza dough rounds, stack them separated by parchment paper, and keep them in the refrigerator for up to two hours before cooking. Grill one side of the pizza dough: Once the grill is hot (you can hold your hands an inch over the grates for no more than 2 seconds), dip a tightly folded up paper towel in olive oil and use tongs to wipe the grill grates.Then place a pizza dough round on a lightly floured (or you can use cornmeal) rimless cookie sheet (or pizza peel if you have one).Let the dough slide off the cookie sheet onto the hot grill grates.Close the lid of the grill and let cook for 2 minutes. Check the dough and look for air bubbles: After 2 minutes, open the grill and check underneath the dough to see if it is getting browned. If it is on one side, but not another, use a spatula or tongs to rotate the dough 90 degrees and cook for another minute.If it is not beginning to brown, cover the grill and continue to cook a minute at a time until the bottom has begun to brown.It should only take a couple minutes if you have a hot grill. The top of the pizza dough will start bubbling up with air pockets. Remove grilled dough and flip it over onto a cookie sheet: Once the pizza dough has browned lightly on one side, use your cookie sheet or pizza peel to remove it from the grill. Use a spatula to flip the dough over so that the grilled side is now up. Keep the grill covered so it retains its heat for the next step. Brush with olive oil, add toppings: Paint the grilled surface of the pizza with a little extra virgin olive oil, then cover with 1 ladle of sauce – no more, or you’ll end up with a soggy pizza.Sprinkle on your toppings, ending with Mozzarella cheese (if using), and if using meat, put that over the cheese.Remember to go light on the toppings, or your pizza will be heavy and soggy. Slide the topped pizza back onto the grill: If you are using a gas grill, reduce the heat. If working with a charcoal grill, close the vents on the cover almost all the way. Close the lid and cook for 2-3 minutes more, or until the bottom begins to char and the cheese is bubbly. Pull off the grate with a spatula onto a cutting board or other flat surface and let rest for a couple minutes before cutting into slices. Slice and serve! Source: Simply Recipes

If a salad is lackluster, salad dressing is the one way to take the meal to the next level. Creamy dressings are perfect for chicken and grains, while vinaigrettes boost the flavor of veggies or a pot of beans. While store bought dressings are convenient, homemade dressings can shake up your cooking. There’s one trick to boosting DIY dressings, and that’s vanilla extract. Vanilla extract can improve dressings such as vinaigrettes and savory-leaning dressings. Vanilla lessens the bite of bitterness and tempers acidity while making sweet ingredients taste more like themselves. In baking, vanilla is more a background flavor to other ingredients but makes a difference when absent. The same applies to salad dressings. The sweetness of vanilla enhances the flavor of sweet salad additions like berries or veggies. It tempers pungent flavors like cheeses, garlic and raw red onion. Try it out with your recipes at home by starting with 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract. You can increase it from there to suit your taste. Ramp up the vanilla’s flavor by building a basic vinaigrette and opt for a fruit vinegar like Champagne or raspberry. Pair with olive oil or a robust nut oil. The vanilla addition really ties it all together for the perfect DIY dressing. Source: the Kitchn