The Vocabulary of Cooking...D, E, F, and G

It's Thursday again, and that means more culinary terminology.  Before we get started, we want to know if you have used any of your new words from the A, B, C list?  We hope so.  The best way to learn a new language is to use it.  So go ahead and show off your culinary language skills.

Now for today's words.  (Don't forget to look for today's recipe.) 

Deglaze means to use a like wine, stock, or even water to help lift the cooked residues from the bottom of pan (to make a sauce).

Dredge is to coat an ingredient in something such as flour or breadcrumbs

Dry Rub is a mixture of dried dried herbs and spices used to commonly marinate meat for BBQ cooking

Dry Rub

Dutch Oven is a heavyy pot with a thick base and walls so it retains heat extremely well and disperses it evenly which is perfect for long braising or making stews. It has a fitted lid as well and the whole thing can go into the oven, which makes it a very versatile piece.

Dutch Oven

Emulsify is to mix (and often bring together two different liquids) forming a thickened mixture - i.e. an emulsification

Extra-virgin olive oil is extracted from the first press of olives, thus yielding a richer flavored olive oil

Fajitas is a grilled meat served with tortillas in Mexican cooking

Fennel is a vegetable that has celery-like stalks and fibers with a sweet anise flavor

Fleur de sel is a fancy finishing salt.

Florets are small heads of a vegetable such as broccoli or cauliflower

Focaccia is a of flat Italian bread made with yeast and olive oil and flavored with herbs

Fococcia

Frisee is a type of chicory lettuce with distinctively curly leaves giving it characteristic texture

Frittata is an egg dish similar to an omelette or quiche that is baked.

Ganache is a French term referring to a smooth and velvety mixture of chocolate and cream.  It can be used as a cake filler, a cake glaze, the middle of a truffle, as a drizzle and more.  You can adjust the amount of chocolate and cream to have a thicker or thinner ganances.  

Here's a easy recipe for a smooth ganache that can be used to ice a cake:

 Ingredients:  

2/3 cup Heavy Cream 

10 oz Chocolate

Directions:

If your chocolate is a large block, chop it up in small pieces.  Otherwise place your chocolate in a medium sized glass bowl.  Heat our cream in a small pot until it just begins to bubble around the edges.  Pour heated milk over chocolate and allow to set for about a minute.  Using a wisk, mix the chocolate and cream until it is smooth and luscious.  Pour the ganache over your cake and allow it to set. 

Garlic is one of the most commonly used ingredients throughout the culinary world.  It has a pungent, spicy flavor that mellows and sweetens considerably once cooked, thus making it indispensible in a lot of recipes.

Gastrique is a vinegar-based reduction with a syrupy consistency.

Gazpacho is a cold soup made of pureed fruit or vegetables.

Ghee is simply clarified butter and commonly used in Indian cuisine.

Glaza is to baste and cover repeatedly with a sauce and cook until the sauce has thickened and is shiny.

Gnocchi are small dumplings made from potato, semolina or flour.

 

Grand Marnier is a orange flavored liqueur

Gremolata is a flavorful garnish traditionally made with citrus zest, herbs and garlic

Grits are made from coarsely ground hominy or corn and are a common dish in the South. They are classically prepared with cheese and butter

Gruyere cheese is a hard cheese that is sweet but salty in flavor with a nutty aroma

Gruyere Cheese

Guacamole is an avocado based dip found in Mexican cuisine.

Guacamole

And that concludes today's lesson :-)

Grill'n Time! Taters on the Grill

Who doesn't like the first grill of the season?  Nothing like the smell of hot coals in the grill as you get your favorite burgers, brats, chicken, fish, etc ready.  Every main dish needs a great side.  With everyone's busy schedule or the need for something that works within your budget here is a great recipe that has been a favorite of 2 Prickly Pears for years.

Taters on the Grill

4 cups of cubed red potatoes. 

2 cups diced onions

1-2 cups shredded cheese (use your favorite)

Salt

Pepper

2 - 4 Tbls butter

Aluminum foil

Peel and cube your potatoes and dice your onions into bite size pieces.  Keeping the size of the potatoes and onions bite size is important.  This will help with the cook time and prevent burning on the bottom during cooking.  Place potatoes and onions in a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.   This is where you can add different seasoning based on your preference.   We found some excellent Organic Italian Seasoning, so we decided to try it out.  Mix everything together until the potatoes and onions are well coated with the seasoning. 

Cut aluminum foil to the size that will hold the potatoes and onions.  Most times you have to use two pieces.  Fold the two long sides together to make one large piece.  Place the potatoes and onions on the aluminum foil and dot with butter. Wrap everything in the aluminum foil as pictured below.

Once the coals are ready place on the grill.   Watch carefully as to make sure the potatoes do not burn.   Test the potatoes occasionally.  

Once potatoes are almost cooked,  sprinkle the cheese on top and reclose the foil.  Normally we will use a mixture of whatever we have left in the frig.  We usually have cheddar and mozzarella.  Use what you like.

Now this is where it can get tricky.  You want to finish cooking the potatoes and melt the cheese BUT you don't want to burn the potatoes on the bottom of the foil.  So it is important to keep a watchful eye.  Depending on how hot your grill is it wont take long. 

Time to EAT!  Careful! They are hot and if you are anything like us it is hard to wait for them to cool a bit.  We always burn our tongue!

This recipe is so easy to change. You can really do a lot with it.  Adding shredded carrots will add great flavor to the dish. If you are a colored pepper fan, add them.  

Have fun with the dish.  The possibilities are endless.

And leftovers are AMAZING!!!!

Last night meal was grilled chicken with chimichurri sauce, raw carrots with a chipotle dip and taters & cheese.

Delicious!

Our tummys were very happy!

The Vocabulary of Cooking... A, B, C's

The 2 Prickly Pears have decided that Thursday is vocabulary day.  Every Thursday we will define terms used in the culinary world.  Now, that's a lot of words.  Not to worry; we'll only do a few each day.  When we get to Z, we will start over and discover new words that need to be better understood. DON'T WORRY!  There will be no examination afterwards.  Let's just learn stuff for the sake of learning!

Pssssst!  Don't forget to look for the not-so-hidden recipe! :)

Do you watch cooking shows?  If so, does some of the language get past you and you end up wondering what was just said?  That might be because there is, like with so many professions and activities, a special language that is used. There's no reason we can't all use the common language of cooking.

We'll start with the ABC's:

Adobo is a sauce or marinade commonly made of tomatoes, chilies, onion, garlic, vinegar, herbs and spices.  You can find chipotle peppers, which are smoke jalapeno peppers, in cans on your grocery shelf.

Agave is a syrup derived from the agave plant used as a sweetener.

Al dente literally means "firm to the bite."  It means the level of doneness to cook pasta.

Andouille is smoke cajun sausage made with pork and garlic.  It has a spicy kick to it.

Balsamic vinegar is a rich, thick and sweet vinegar made from pure grape juice.  Be sure to get a good quality balsamic.  It is lovely!

Bechamel (besh a mel) is a white sauce made from a roux (even parts butter and flour) and cream or milk.  

Don't be afraid of a bechamel sauce.  It's a simple white sauce.  Here's a recipe for you:

4 Tablespoons Butter
4 Tablespoons Flour
2 Cups Milk or Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste

Melt butter in sauce pan.  Add flour and whisk and allow to heat without browning.  Stir constantly.  Add your milk or cream and stir until thickened.  You can add more milk if you want a thinner beshamel.  Salt and pepper the sauce to your liking.  If you add cheese, you will have cheese sauce.  If you add garlic and extra black pepper you have a tasty sauce for your sautéed chicken breasts.  Add a bit of red pepper flakes and give some attitude to your roasted asparagus.  Have fun and enjoy your beshamel!

Biscotti literally means "twice cooked", and is an Italian twice baked cookie.  These are great cookies if you are a dunker.  Perfect with coffee.

Bouquet garni is a French term that literally means a bouquet of aromatic herbs.  Tied together they add flavor to soups and broths.  Then are removed and tossed.  The little bundles usually consist of bay leaves, thyme, parsley, garlic.

Brine  is a liquid mixture consisting of water, salt and sugar.  It isn't just for pickles, either.  You can brine a turkey or a brisket too.

Capers are a small salty flower bud, usually found in a jar packed in salt or brine.  Use capers when you are looking to add a sour/salty note to a dish. 

Cardamom is an exotic spice that has a unique, savory, aromatic flavor

Carpaccio is thinly pounded fillets of raw beef. 

Ceviche is a dish of citrus-marinated seafood popular in Latin cuisine.

Chiffonade is thin ribbons cut of leafy herbs or greens.  Chiffonade fresh sweet basil and add a lovely flavor to just about any salad.

Chorizo is a spicy Spanish pork sausage flavored with paprika, garlic and chili

Chutney is a condiment that is chunky in texture and traditionally contains fruit, sugar and a bit of vinegar.  There are so many combination to have fun with.  Add a little spice and pour chutney over a block of cream cheese and serve with crackers.  Yikes!  DeLish!

Confit is a method of cooking by submerging an ingredient in oil or fat and cooking it slowly.  Duck confit is ridiculously good! 

Couscous is a type of pasta.  It comes in small and large granuals and made from semoline durum wheat.

Crudite is a simple combination of raw, seasonal vegetables that are accompanied by some sort of dip.  Think about using the Chipotle Dipping Sauce from our post on Black Beans.  It's a little sassy and will make your vegetables dance!

Stay tuned for next Thursday when we start with the D's.  

Go ahead, use your new vocabulary.  You will sound so good and look fabulous!

Mouth watering Flat Bread Pizza

The 2 Prickly Pears love-love-love flat bread pizza.

And it is so easy to make your own.  You can find flat breads everywhere now days.  We found them on the bottom shelf just below the deli cases.  There was also Lavash, which is a cracker type crust, as well as thin crusts all designed for homemade pizza.

The topping possibilities are endless when it comes to pizza.  Do you like it loaded?  Do you like it simple?  Or are you somewhere in the middle?

We are all very familiar with the classic toppings on pizza, such as cheese, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, and peppers.  Some newer, but still familiar, pizza toppings are pineapple, Canadian bacon, and black olives.

Some more exotic toppings are feta cheese, arugula, asparagus, chicken....honestly pizza is a blank canvas that you can design anyway you like.

And what about the sauces?  There was a time when pizza sauce was only one color....red.  Now you see white sauces, especially when you include chicken as a topping.  Have you ever tried pesto as a sauce on your pizza...we love pesto!  Layer it with sliced fresh mozzarella, slices of tomato, and fresh basil.  Drizzle it with a good balsamic vinegar and you have capresse pizza!  Hey!  That sounds too good!

We are offering you today one of our favorite pizzas.  Yes, sometimes we like simple.  Just a few toppings on a flat bread.  It includes lots of garlic and lots of cheese.

3/4 lb hot Italian sausage

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Mozzarella cheese (as much as you like)*

Parmesan cheese (as much as you like)*

Chipotle sauce (see recipe from earlier post)
Salt

Pepper

Red pepper flakes (if you like it extra spice)

2 flat breads

Set oven to 400 degrees

Saute onions and garlic, do not brown.  Brown sausage and drain. Place the two flat breads on a pizza pan or cookie sheet.  Spread chipotle sauce evenly on bread, leaving about a 1/2 edge.  Spread half of the onion/garlic mixture on each bread.  Spread half the sausage on each bread.  Sprinkle each pizza with salt, pepper, and pepper flakes to suit your taste.  Top both with the two cheeses. *remember that your crust is thin, so too much stuff might be difficult to manage.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and lightly brown.  Cut up as you see fit and enjoy.  Be Careful!!  It's hot!

Be bold, be inspiration, be inventive and find your own ways to make your pizza.  Go ahead and play with your food!

Health Bars that really are healthy for you...

Ever wonder just how healthy energy bars are?  Yes many of them contain granola, oats, dried fruit and a variety of nuts.  All those ingredients are great but most if not all of them contain they following...

• Soy Protein Concentrate
• Soy Lecithin
• Sugar
• Salt
• High Fructose Corn Syrup

All these ingredients defeat the purpose of the bar actually being healthy for you.

These bars are so appealing to people who are on the go because advertisements say the calorie count is only XXX per bar and gives you hours of energy.

We know you don't want to listen to us complain about the false claims these bars make and the unhealthiness of them.  So we won't.  Instead we will give you a recipe that really is healthy for you, will give you energy, and satisfy those hunger pains between meals.

BUT, because we cant help ourselves, here are a few links as to why you should stay away from these bad ingredients.

Why soy is bad for you... wellnessmama.com
Why High Fructose Corn Syrup is bad for you... drhyman.com/blog
Why refined sugar is bad for you... globalhealingcenter.com
Why salt is bad for you... livestrong.com

Health Bars

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup roughly chopped nuts and seeds (I always have on hand almonds, sunflower and pepitas)

1/2 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup millet

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1/4 tsp salt (I cook with Himalayan Sea Salt... always) 

1 cup combination of dates, prunes and raisin.

1/2 cup brown rice syrup

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 tablespoon coconut oil

• Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper.
• Mix together oats, nuts and seeds, coconut flakes, millet, flaxseed and salt into a large bowl. 
• Puree the dates, prunes and raisins in a food processor.
• In a medium saucepan, combine the pureed fruit, brown rice syrup, peanut butter and coconut oil over medium heat. Stir until well incorporated. 
• Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix well. 
• Dump the mixture into the prepared pan. 
• Grease hands with butter and press mixture into pan firmly. 
• Bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes. 
• Let cool completely in the pan, then remove and cut into bars. 
• Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

What is great about this recipe is it is easy to experiment with.  Change up the ingredients to make the bars the way you want them to be.  Use different nuts or different dried fruit. So many possibilities.

No Flour Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

About a year ago I decided to move away from gluten.  Not because I was told I had to, I just knew it was something I needed to do.  I could tell by the way I was feeling when I ate pasta, breads, cookies… you know all those great things that we all know and love... I needed to make a change in my eating habits.

Bread has been really hard to give up.  I am a carb person.  And if butter goes good with it I am the first one in line for a serving. Not one to have a big sweet tooth, cookies were never on my list to make, buy or eat.  However every now and then I like a good homemade cookie. Still I never liked how I felt after eating them… that darn flour.

In my gluten free journey I began to take notice of recipes that had their own natural sweetness, which I found to be what I craved.  A long my way I found a few recipes I liked. Here is one that is easy to make and packed full of great stuff and will satisfy your craving for something sweet.

No Flour Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2 very ripe bananas (about 2/3 cup)

2 tbsp organic maple syrup

2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups organic rolled oats

2 tbsp flax seed**

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

3-4 dates,chopped

3-4 prunes, chopped

1/4 cup raisins

1 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped

1/4 cup almonds, chopped (or your favorite nut)

• In a large mixing bowl, mash ripe bananas until smooth. Stir in olive oil and maple syrup.  Mix in the oats, flax seed, cinnamon and cardamom until combined.  Add in the dates, prunes, raisins, ginger and nuts. 
• Scoop out a heaping tablespoon (I use a melon baller) of the dough and form into a ball. Place on greased cookie sheet close together. The cookies will not change in size so they can be close together.
• Bake cookies at 350F for 15-20 minutes.  

They are pretty good.  Are they as good as my mom’s ice box cookies, which is my favorite cookie, NO! Yet in a pinch and to stay away from the gluten they are great to have around for a snack.

**When using flax seed remember that if you want the full nutrition, the hull of the seed needs to be broken.  You can use a herb grinder and just break the hull or grind it completely.