Stress Reducing Tips for the Holidays

Just to prove my point...I was so caught up with everything else going on around here, I missed the opportunity to share some stress reducing pre holiday tips before U S Thanksgiving Day. That said, December and January are packed with holiday events. No matter which ones you celebrate, the challenges are the same....too little time, too much to do. With questions like, when do I start?...WHERE do I start?...what was I thinking?!!!!

I thought I'd share some of my tips for making life easier. The best piece of advice, of course, is PLAN AHEAD. Something we'd all love to do, but somehow life gets in the way. I've divided my stress reducing tips into two categories - the BIG party and the IMPROMPTU get-together.

The two biggest tips I can give, regardless of type...CHOOSE SIMPLE RECIPES and MAKE LISTS:

• lists for guests (with phone numbers, in case there are changes/questions like allergies, etc),


• lists of party supplies - from plates to party hats,


• menu options,


• ingredients/shopping list,


• and, schedule, which really doesn't need to be complicated or so detailed as to require a stop watch - just a rough guide for which things need to/can be done in sequence. For instance, some dishes require last minute preparation (keep those to a minimum, unless part of the event is having others help out in the kitchen...I love doing that. Everyone really gets in the groove in a kitchen, even the non-cooks congregate to chat). Other things can be done well in advance, like finding all your party supplies and baking/freezing some of the dishes to be defrosted the day of the party.

Now I can see you hyperventilating, but just relax, have a cup of tea, put your feet up for five minutes and read my ideas for scheduling, etc....
For the Big Party1. Invite your guests early - remember that they might end up accepting another invitation when they'd much rather spend the time with you. Don't forget to ask if they have any food allergies or preferences. If you know someone is vegetarian, for example, you can add some vegetarian main so they're not just eating veggie sides. After all, you want them to feel welcome, too.

2. Once you've done the inviting, it's time to plan the menu. Decide if it will be a sit down or buffet affair.

3. Plan the menu. I like to change things up when I entertain...some tried and true that everyone loves, along with interesting new dishes. If you want to add something you've never tried before, make sure you do a test run early. Nothing like a flop to really stress you out!

I like to put on some old movie and bring a bazillion cookbooks to look through, finding recipes that go with my theme and make a note of any/all that sound promising - along with page numbers and title of book. I can't tell you how many times the menu changes in the choosing stage and then when you think you've got it all together, you forgot exactly where the recipes come from. Been there, done that...more time than I care to count.

4. Check to make sure you have all the serving dishes, tableware - dishes, cutlery, glasses, tablecloths, etc. If you don't have enough, that doesn't mean you have to go shopping...although that is fun. You can ask friends and family for loaners - from extra chairs to anything else missing from your list.

5. The biggie...the Schedule...sounds awesome, but doesn't have to be. I like to make a simple grid to start.

Then I look at the menu, and starting backwards from serving time...I jot down what needs to be done when. Still staring at this like a deer in the headlights? No worries. I'll share one I did for this year's Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) dinner.
You'll be looking cool and relaxed...honest!

Now for some stress reducing tips for those impromptu gatherings.

This past Thanksgiving, our friends unexpectedly got back from out West the day before the big day and, since we didn't have any plans either, we decided to do a simple, joint dinner. Rick made the turkey (already stuffed when he bought it frozen and popped it into the oven still frozen in the early AM), Colleen made the gravy, I made the mashed potatoes and sides and they bought a pumpkin pie for dessert. My Honey (in the middle) bought the wine. All in all a very easy, perfectly stress-free event.

But my biggest tip for those last minute, drop by evenings...have stuff on hand! Right, you're thinking...stuff like what????!
Pantry:
pasta (because nothing cooks up quicker as a main course - check out the easy as pie pastas for simple and quick choices)
crackers - great for cheese & wine
tostitos (I like multigrain) perfect for dips
jars/tins of : salsas, chickpeas & tahina (which whip up into a hummus in minutes), sun dried tomatoes in oil (perfect for bruschettas, pastas, pizza)
broth: chicken &/or vegetable
Fridge:
eggs (nothing easier than an omelet or scramble after a late night out or before an early start)
cheeses...whatever you like...my choices: soft goat cheese - great with crackers and make a mean grilled cheese sandwich, too;
a round of brie and any other favorite cheeses to go with crackers or sliced in a sandwich or salad salad greens
oil cured olives (great chopped on bruschettas, pizza, salads, pastas...)
pita (perfect for toasting and making pita chips, to scoop up dips, as a pita pocket sandwich)
Freezer:
cookie dough...instant heaven, just thaw, slice and bake
dumplings - to steam in some broth, or fried in oil
shrimp - I always have a bag full - thaw & peel in less than 5 minutes, great in a quick stir fry, with pasta, in a scramble, salad...list is endless
if you have room, pick up your favorite ready made appetizers, every large grocery store has their own brands.

Add to the list any of your favorite things...even if that just includes chips, pop & beer.

Most important of all....take a deep breath and relax...it's just a party and everyone there is there to be with you, not critique the menu!

Happy Holidays all. If you have a great stress-reducing tip, please share in the comments.

Marcy Goldman's Three Tricks of the Baking Trade

Marcy Goldman (you might know her from her very successful baking site BetterBaking) has a new baking book out The New best of BetterBaking.com and it's fantastic. You can check out my review and a couple of recipes, but I'm here to share her three most important tricks of baking:

1. Double your baking sheets. The bottom sheet insulates the top one and dispenses the heat evenly. If you're baking in a loaf pan...place it on a baking sheet to create the same insulating effect. Place a sheet of parchment, not just on the top sheet for easy cleanup, but on the bottom sheet as well. Apparently it modifies the heat of the metal baking pan.

2. Large plastic bags make great proofing tents. Use large clear plastic bags (like the ones for leaf or recycling collection). It's great for brad rising. Just slip the rising bowl, formed loaves or sheet of rolls into the bag and seal it lightly. It creates a tent ensuring proper humidity and protection from drafts. No more sticky towels.

3. Use nonstick spray on rising dough to preserve the moist surface.

If you have a baking tip to share, please leave it in the comments.

Baking with Butter

I've already given some tips on baking with eggs and now it's time to learn a little about butter.

But before I even start...let me mention that when you plan on sauteing with butter, it's important to add your butter to a COLD pan. Unlike oils, which, with a high burn factor (meaning it takes extremely high heat without burning) can be added to a hot pan to sear meat or do a quick stir fry, butter, on the other hand, is delicate and burns easily. Add it to a hot pan...instant burnt butter! So...add butter to a cold pan, turn the heat on low at first and watch the butter melt. Don't rush it! Burnt butter tastes...well...burnt!

As you can tell from the above, temperature is key to using butter. Of course, there's cold Vs room temperature issue. So let's start there. "Room Temperature" is NOT the temperature of your room. Depending on which expert you listen to...it's 68-72°F/20-22°C. So how can you tell when it's reached room temperature? It's soft enough to leave an imprint when you press on it...think fresh play-doh. It is soft enough to mold and still hold its shape. It can take from 15-30 minutes from the time you take it out of the fridge...depending, of course on how hot/cold your room is.

Here are some general tips on butter from one of my favorite bakers:

Dorie Greenspan, in Baking From my home to yours has a lot to say about butter....

"When a recipe calls for butter...never substitute for anything else...

Use unsalted butter for baking - it gives you control over the amount of salt in a recipe and has a distinctive taste and texture...

Easiest way to butter a pan...use softened butter applied with either a paper towel, the wrapping from the butter or a pastry brush...

Storing butter: as it's a magnet for strong odors, always wrap it and keep it in the fridge or freezer...

Other tips: always used room temperature butter when a recipe calls for 'creaming' - combining butter, sugar and eggs to a golden, creamy mixture...

Use frozen butter to grate into flour mixtures for lightness - great for scones etc., when you want to leave air pockets during baking.

All About Eggs for Baking

I confess...I'm more of a cook than a baker...to say nothing about the fact that I've never done well with science. I was the girl who almost blew up the chem lab in high school.

So I need all the help I can get when it comes to the chemistry aspect of baking and the biggest question is always about when to keep ingredients chilled and when to let them come to room temperature...which by the way means around 72°F/22°C. So if you live in a hot climate, that probably only takes about 20 minutes.

Let's start with the EGG conundrum and I'll follow up with the butter issues next:

According to all my baking books (I'll reference them throughout), you should use the freshest LARGE eggs of the highest quality that you can find, store them in the fridge and then to get them to room temperature, leave them on the counter for 30 minutes. If you're in a hurry you can dunk them in a pot of hot water for a minute (according to Marcy Goldman's A Passion for Baking) or leave in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes (according to Elizabeth Baird of The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book).

But...they all say that if you need to separate egg whites and yolks, it's better/easier to do that cold and keep them separate on the counter until room temperature AFTER you've separated them. The Culinary Institute of America Cookbook (one of my best reference sources) and my mother have this important tip for separating eggs. You need THREE bowls: one for the initial separation of the egg whites. If there are no bits of shell or egg yolk, or the obvious bad egg (you'll know by the smell), transfer to a clean bowl. Lastly, put the yolks in a third bowl and start the process over, each time you separate an egg, do the initial separation into the first bowl. That way, at worst, you lose only one egg and not all of them.

Beating or whipping or whisking...a whisk does aerate the best and that is what you want for egg whites to peak. It is also recommended by The Cook's Book and others that the bowl is just as important as the freshness and temperature of the eggs. Avoid plastic which can retain a grease film no matter how well you wash it. Their favorite for stable, voluminous whites is unlined copper because of some positive reaction between the whites and copper...see what I mean about chemistry?...but stainless steel or glass are fine options. A pinch of cream of tartar (my mother's choice, too) acts as a stabilizer.

Here are some other tips for awesome egg whites from The Cook's Book:

1. Make sure the inside of the bowl is spotlessly clean and free of grease. Especially if you are using copper, you may want to wipe the interior of the bowl with lemon juice or vinegar, rinse and dry thoroughly.

2. Whites will "mount" more easily if they're at room temperature.

3. When separating, take care to prevent any yolk from falling into and contaminating the whites.

4. Use a large balloon whisk which is perfectly clean.

5. Beat just until the whites are stiff but not dry.

6. Use beaten whites as soon as possible to preserve their volume.

7. You can beat egg whites with an electric mixer but NEVER A BLENDER OR FOOD PROCESSOR.

My own note...back to separating the eggs...I've watched many a chef - professional and self (or mom) taught excellent home baker. It seems there are a few different ways to do this job.

1. You could buy an egg separator and just place it over a measuring cup. The yolk will stay in the center and the whites will fall into the cup. This is when you'd move the yolk/shell free whites to one bowl and the yolks to another;

2. You could use the shell and gently move the yolk from one half to the other, over a bowl, making sure that you don't nick the yolk with a sharp edge of the shell until all the whites are in the bowl and the yolk remains in one half of the shell. This one can be tricky.

3. You could use your hand as the "separator". Just crack the egg, place one hand, palm up over a clean bowl, spread the egg shell so that the entire egg falls into your palm. Wiggle your hand so that all the whites slides through your fingers, while guarding the yolk. Not for the squeamish.

Back to yolks for a moment...there is a term I've seen often in my baking books...Tempering which is simply means the blending of ingredients of different temperatures and that you need to SLOWLY increase the heat of cold one into the hot. This is particularly critical with egg dishes...unless, of course, you like lumpy, scrambled or curdled eggs in your finished dish. Dorie Greenspan in Baking from my home to yours, has an additional important note: When egg yolks meet up with sugar (when you make cookies, for example and have to beat eggs, sugar and butter before adding dry ingredients). As soon as sugar comes in contact with yolks, it begins to "burn" the yolks...causing them to develop small lumps....to avoid this, make sure to whisk the two ingredients together as soon as they are put in the same bowl and do not allow them to sit.

Elizabeth Baird and the CL team has this to say about tempering eggs:

" If cold eggs are added to hot liquids, there is a real danger that they will cook on contact - scrambled instead of combining with liquid into a silky custard. Tempering warms up cold eggs and allows them to be incorporated into hot mixtures smoothly without curds."

The technique:
In a bowl, whisk eggs until evenly yellow.

While whisking the eggs, gradually pour in the hot liquid. The amount of liquid should be roughly half the volume of the eggs. Whisk in additional hot liquid, up to about one third of the liquid.

For creme anglaise or other stirred custards, whisk the warmed eggs and liquid back into the pan with the remaining liquid and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens enough to cat the back of a spoon.

For baked puddings with a custard base, whisk all the hot liquid slowly into the eggs before pouring into the baking dishes.

If you have any other tips about eggs, please leave them in the comments.

Next up...all about butter.

Tips on Braising

It is definitely that time of year again...brisk chill in the air, leaves turning golden, rust and brilliant red. That means it's time for hearty soups and stews.

In the most recent issue of LCBO's Food & Drink Magazine, which is hands down my favorite of all my favorite magazines. You can only find it at any Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) retail outlet. So if you don't live in Ontario, or know people who do and will save it for you...you can at least find back issue recipes on their site.

And I thought I would share Lucy Waverman's tips on braising...a "must have" list for the season, if ever there was one. Note: Lucy Waverman is the food editor of Food & Drink and author of several great cookbooks.

1. Best cuts: the tougher ones with more flavour and texture. More expensive cuts will dry out quicker...try beef chuck, shoulder, shanks, brisket and short ribs; veal shoulder and breast; pork butt and shoulder; lamb shoulder, shank & breast.

2. Choose the right size pot. Too big=gravy evaporates too quickly; too small=meat cooks unevenly. Cubed stewing meat should sit in two layers; a brisket or roast should fit snugly in the pot. Dutch ovens are perfect as they cook on the stove (searing meat and prepping veggies) and go straight into the oven. If you don't have one...and I really recommend that you do...sear and prep in a skillet and transfer to an ovenproof casserole for the roasting stage.

3. Pat meat dry with paper towels so cooking oil doesn't splatter as much. Trim most of fat and cut meat into uniform pieces for even cooking - same goes for the veggies.

4. Searing: heat just a film of oil on high heat on top of the stove. Add the meat a few pieces at a time. DO NOT USE BUTTER - it will burn on high heat. DO NOT CROWD THE PAN. It just lowers the heat and instead of sealing in all the juices, it will just produce steam creating a greyish flat stew.

5. Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown on all sides to seal in the juices. Remove the meat from the skillet set aside in a large enough bowl to hold all the meat (I prefer stainless steel to keep it hot) and repeat until all the meat is seared and dark brown. Always make sure there is a thin film of oil for each batch and that the oil is hot.

6. After the meat is all browned and removed from the pot, lower the heat to medium and add the onions, if using (this is when I like to saute chopped onions, carrots or other hard vegetables just until they soften 3-5 minutes).

7. Add the meat back into the pot, along with any liquid making sure that it comes halfway up the meat. DO NOT TOTALLY IMMERSE the meat or you will have a very weak gravy...fine if you're making soup, but not stew.

8. About liquids: beef stock, tomato juice, wine. Different liquids give different flavoured gravies. DO NOT USE WATER...it just makes an insipid, weak gravy.

9. Thickening: flour, cornstarch or arrowroot. Cornstarch and arrowroot should be mixed with water (Note: frankly I do this with flour too, or at least remove some of the liquid and blend with flour before adding back to the pot - makes it silky not lumpy).

OR: boil down the braising liquid to thicken naturally; puree braising liquid and some of the vegetables.

10. After browning, use gentle heat to cook the meat slowly (325°/160°C) or low in a slow cooker. High heat and "Fast cooking" just toughen the fibres of the meat. It's done when the meat is easily pierced with a fork (usually 2 hours for beef; 1 1/2 hours for lamb and pork.

11. Vegetables: potatoes, carrots and whole onions can be added about 45 minutes before the meat is ready; tender vegetables like zucchini, cabbage, mushrooms or peas are added just 15 minutes before the end of cooking.

12. Braises keep well and reheat beautifully. Although many recipes say they freeze well, Note: I find vegetables get quite spongy, so I usually remove large chunks and just steam some fresh for when I defrost)

Enjoy the cold weather! If you have any other braising tips, please share them in the comment section.

Testing for Freshness

My daughter was cleaning out her cupboards, mostly to reorganize the space. Naturally she discovered some goodies that were well past their prime. We all have some...so I thought I'd share some tips on how to know when something is ready for the trash bin.

Dried herbs & Spices - easy, sniff and taste a tiny amount. If it's lost flavor from the get go...it won't have any in a dish. Ideally, we should mark the date we bought it right on the container. Most seasonings lose their oomph within a year.

Nuts should actually be kept in the freezer unless you are going to use them within a couple of weeks or they'll go rancid...(that weird "old" smell).

Baking powder and baking soda will look white forever and since there really isn't any taste or smell to give old, useless boxes away. Both of them are supposed to work together with flour and act sort of like yeast...expanding the dough. You really can see it working in muffins. It's why you usually add them just before baking.

Here's the real test to ensure their freshness:
Baking powder - 1 tsp in half glass of hot water - if it's fresh, it will bubble up. If not - replace it.
Baking soda's test is a little different - pour half tsp of vinegar over a little baking soda. It too will bubble up if fresh.

If you have any other tips on how to tell if things are fresh, please leave them in the comments.

You can also email me any kitchen questions you might have - ruth(at)4everykitchen(dot)com

Baked On Food on Ceramic Cooktop Stoves

Recently an "In trouble Husband" wrote about a problem that I know many of us can relate to...."We were making some beer and it boiled over on the stovetop. Now its pretty baked on. How can I clean it without scraching the shiny finish". I did the same thing making a sugary syrup.

Here's what I did to recover....

1. Take the pot off the burner & turn off the element.

2. Use cloth towel to remove as much as you can while it's still liquidy.

3. Allow to cool before the next step.

4...Most tedious, but patience is a requirement!...After trying to gently scrape off as much stuck on, burnt on stuff (for lack of a better word) with a paint scraper, I tried several products. These seemed to work best. Cerama Bryte ceramic cooktop cleaner and a fantastic product from Vileda - glass/ceramic scrunge that is a sponge that with an abrasive side that doesn't scratch the glass. It's my new best friend for even simple spills.

5. Repeat step 4 a bazillion times while chanting "Ohmmmm" or some other stress relieving melody, stay calm and it will work.

If only I can find some Cerama Bryte cleaning cloths - to get rid of streaks, and their burnt on grease cleaner, I'll be happy.

If you have any other ideas for my friend and I, please leave a comment.