40 don any than Recipes

here are the basics of making an excellent cheese fondue , the proper way (or at least the lindysez way)., use good cheese , i use half emmental swiss and gruyere, grate them up and toss them with some salt and a good amount of pepper. let them sit out at room temp so they melt better . cut your bread (good french bread, but not sourdough) into bite sized pieces making sure to have crust on each piece. let those sit out for a while too so they aren tsp too soft., cheese that you use , you are going to use 1 3/4 cups of a dry white wine, such as a fume blanc, a california sauv blanc (don tsp use a new zealand 1 as most are too grassy) or a pouilly-fume. when you are ready to make the fondue, rub the pot with a clove of garlic (we like garlic, so we leave the clove in, but you don tsp need to); then place over a medium heat and add the wine. when the wine comes to a simmer, start slowly adding the cheese, sprinkling in a handful at a time, allowing each addition to melt (my dad said you always have to stir in the same direction, in a figure 8 motion, it works. if you stir in a circle you will end up with a big glop of cheese in the middle of a pot of wine, the figure 8 is key); keep adding until you have a nice thick sauce, then add a splash of kirsch and a pinch of nutmeg. put over a burner to keep it bubbling, and stir often when you dip your bread., a lb of cheese is enough for 4 people; or more if you are serving other things. and the amounts are guesstimates. i almost always grate too much cheese, so only add as much as you need to get the right consistency ; when you dip a piece of bread into the fondue, you want a nice coating of cheese and for the bread to absorb the wine. that s what it s all about, cheese, wine and bread. so use the best you can of each ingredient. and any left over cheese makes for a mighty good ham and cheese omelet.

any liquid can be reduced just by heating it - but why would you want to do that, answer comes back to two of our old friends, flavor and consistency (texture)., by reducing any flavored liquid you intensify its flavor and at the same time thicken it. you can continue this process until what you have left is a syrup if it contains sugar, or a sauce if it does not., this is 1 of the most important tools in the kitchen , believe it or not, because a great sauce can rescue an indifferent meal., literally any liquid can be reduced ., a few uses, wine is frequently used in cooking , both as a marinade and as an addition to sauces for meat., there are some problems with it though, 1 of which is that you need a really good wine and quite a lot of it to produce a reasonable sauce for, say, six people., on the other hand , if you use pure grape juice and reduce it to a syrup, that syrup, added to any sauce (or gravy if you prefer) will lift it into the realms of gourmet ., more , you don tsp have to make your reduction on the night you prepare your meal. you can reduce a liter of grape juice at any time to the consistency and flavor you want; then just store it in the fridge., you can do the same thing with any fruit juice - prune is sensational - and store it until needed. just about all of them will do things for ice cream, pies or tarts that will have your guests demanding the recipe, pork with apple sauce use a carton of fresh apple juice from the supermarket and reduce it. and if you want a real sensation add in a glass of apple brandy during the reduction process., are you getting an idea of how simple this is, take any carton of fresh stock straight of the shelf and reduce it. you will transform it into something even the manufacturer won tsp recognize. but beware, you need to start out with good quality in the first place, because when you reduce a liquid you intensify all the flavors, and not just the good ones., if it s salty to start with, for example, it will be salty beyond belief by the time you ve reduced it even by half. so if you are going to use a supermarket stock, make sure it s an extremely good 1., believe me when i tell you that stock cubes should not be used for reduction sauces., thickeners, because you will be tasting as you go (won tsp you ), you may find that you get the flavor you want before the desired consistency is reached., a couple of hints right now for your sauces., sweet ones can be thickened successfully without loss of color by adding in liquid glucose early on in the reduction process. surprisingly, this will add little in the way of sweetness and produces a beautiful velvety sauce when whisked., if you get it wrong and add too much, no problem. stir in a little extra water to thin it., reduction pans, reductions need to happen rapidly in serving to preserve flavors. and the greater the surface area of the liquid the faster the water will evaporate., however you may want to whisk something into the sauce while its cooking - such as butter or olive oil for example - and for that i find a small wok is best; 1 with a handle., a wok is less likely to reduce so fast that the sauce is burnt while your back is turned. but try both methods and see which you prefer. you may even end up using something totally different., no magic to this. whatever works for you, that s what you should use, in this and everything else to do with cooking., just bear in mind that what you re after is speed and ease of use. as well as a great tasting result, of course. :>), keeping, if they should dry out , simply add a little water and heat through., sauces containing meat juices of any kind must be frozen if you re going to keep them, and should be brought to boiling point before being used again. there is no need to thaw them out to do this, in fact it s better not to. simply drop the frozen cubes into a saucepan, melt them over a gentle heat, and then bring swiftly to the boil., why do you do this to avoid food poisoning, that s why. you are making sure that any bugs introduced into the sauce during the preparation process are killed off., worry , this will not be because of anything you have done wrong (i hope!), but because bacteria are part of our everyday lives and they exist in every kitchen, however clean., in fact your food , and especially your meat, is crawling with wildlife that you will never see. don tsp worry about them. careful handling and simple precautions will ensure that these miniature monsters can never multiply enough to harm either you or your guests.

spanish chorizo , sausage links cut in 1/4-inch slices (the firm chorizo, mexican chorizo is the soft version), boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut in large pieces, pork chop , cut in cubes don tsp dice too fine (1-inch thickness, and yes i just ask the guy behind the meat counter for 1), ham , cut in cubes don tsp dice too fine (1/4-inch thickness, and yes again, i just get a slice from the deli), shrimp, peeled and tails on (personally i remove mine, but traditionally they are left on), cod, cut into large pieces (use could use halibut too, any firm white fish), clams , cherrystone if possible my seafood guy will always clean them for me (rinsed well in a pan of water), mussels , my seafood guy will always clean them for me (rinsed and cleaned well), bell peppers, cut in strips (i like to use 1 green and 1 red pepper), scallions, chopped (green and white parts ), onion, chopped, minced garlic, olive oil, arborio rice, chicken broth , sometimes i use a bit more broth (stock if you have home made would be even better), saffron, fresh parsley, chopped, bay leaf, white wine, lemon juice, frozen peas, salt, pepper, lemon wedge, parsley

firm tofu, frozen and thawed (you don tsp have to do this, but it will help the tofu soak up more flavor), tamari, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, grated, water, tomato juice (i use low-sodium v8), vegetable oil, quinoa (about 2/3 cup uncooked will yield this amount, use 1-1/3 cups of water), green beans (i had a combination, or any other steamed vegetables you like, or salad...) or 4 cups yellow wax beans (i had a combination, or any other steamed vegetables you like, or salad...), tamari, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, grated, water, tomato juice (i use low-sodium v8), miso , a bit generous (i use dark-colored rice, or kome, ), cornstarch, scallion, thinly sliced, alfalfa sprouts (or other sprouts)

butter or 1/3 cup margarine, sugar, sugar, eggs, baking powder, flour, salt, baking soda, buttermilk (you can make your own if you don tsp have any-just use 1/2 cup milk and take out 1-1/2 tsp milk and pu), blueberries

rolled oats, vanilla soymilk (if you don tsp have any on hand, try sweet ), golden raisins, honey dates, roughly chopped, apple, diced, almonds (halved or crushed ), cashew halves (i use both!) or 2 tbsp walnuts (i use both!)

parsnips, peeled and sliced, carrot, peeled and sliced, orange juice (fresh is best ), olive oil, lemon juice (fresh is best ), prepared mustard (preferably dijon ), chives, minced, red onions, minced fine, celery salt, poppy seed, salt (i don tsp use any) (optional)

elbow macaroni, butter (the original recipe calls for 9 tbsp. - i like to use 8 tbsp of unsalted - or 1 stick. you probably could get by with even less if you are so inclined...), shredded muenster cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, shredded monterey jack cheese, feel free to up the cheese quotient. and invite me for dinner! ), half-and-half, cubed processed cheese food (don tsp be a velveeta snob like i was - this makes the sauce so darn cheesy/creamy. if you want to remain a v-snob, then go for cream cheese, but it won tsp be the same. but hey, it s your thang - do what you wanna do. heh.), eggs, beaten, salt, dry mustard, ground black pepper, any combination ), ground meat, browned (turkey, chicken, beef, pork), breakfast sausage such as jimmy dean regular or hot (browned and drained - 1 lb.), keilbasa or andouille (cut into chunks and browned in a wee bit of olive oil), fresh chorizo, casing removed, browned and broken up, onion, diced and sauteed until translucent, jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped (for a milder taste, use poblano, or go crazy and use serranos or a habanero), crushed red pepper flake to taste, roasted red pepper, chopped, i have even added, artichoke hearts, drained and loosely chopped, cheesy note : another great cheese combo and 1 of my favorite spins is using shredded asiago, provolone, mozzarella and a sharp cheddar. delish, use a pepper jack cheese in the mix . or a smoked cheddar. i adore cheese and it all works for me and makes this recipe wonderful, comforting and lusciously decadent.

white potatoes , scrubbed and sliced thin (about 7 cups sliced), frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry, minced onion, garlic cloves, crushed, half-and-half, butter, melted, shredded cheddar cheese (or a combo of both) or 1 1/2-2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese (or a combo of both), kosher salt, black pepper, paprika, parsley flakes, hot sauce (or use more or don tsp use any)

sugar, margarine (2 sticks) or 1/2 lb butter (2 sticks), eggs (or 4 egg beaters plus 2 ), cake crumbs, salt, potato starch, chopped walnuts (any type you like ) or 1 cup pecans (any type you like) or 1 cup slivered almonds (any type you like), chocolate chips, cinnamon sugar, mixture

chicken (portions and or or pork or both to suite 4 people, can be breast, leg or thigh), onions, chopped, garlic clove (chopped or crushed or paste), turmeric, chorizo sausage, cooked (or other sausage, plain or spicy) (optional), rice (brown is nice , but does take longer), stock (chicken or herb i.e. caldo ), tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or equivalent such as passata), red pepper (or yellow pepper or green pepper, or all three), peas (or any vegetable) or 1 cup carrot (or any vegetable), salt and pepper (to season)

sugar, sunflower oil, applesauce, egg whites (i used stop & shop pourable , 1/2 cup), low-fat milk (any kind of milk works, 1% is what i keep around), tomato soup (condensed not ready-to-heat ), all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground allspice, ground cardamom

baking chocolate (nestle or any brand of flavored morsels. it can be peanut butter, butterscotch, white chocolate, dar), eagle brand sweetened condensed milk, salt, vanilla extract (but you don tsp have to just use vanilla, add any flavor you like), extract (not just vanilla, such as, mint, peppermint, fruit flavors, almond, you can also use liquors such as), nuts, candy cane, pieces, marshmallow, candied fruit, toffee pieces, cookie , pieces, candy bar, pieces, fruit preserves (not jam or jellie)

garlic bread, this goes great with any italian dish , and is simple to make., garlic powder, oregano, basil, dired minced garlic, kosher salt, parmesean cheese, butter, softened, italian bread, preheat oven to 375 degrees. combine spices in a mortar in pestle, and grind until the salt and minced garlic have been broken down and combined. if you don tsp have a mortar and pestle, simply put the spices in a zip loc freezer bag, and beat with the flat side of a meat tenderizer or rolling pin until crushed and combined. slice loaf in half length wise, and spread each half with a half stick of butter. divide the spice mixture in half, and spread each half evenly over each piece of bread. wrap each half in aluminum foil and bake for about 15 minutes. to crisp it up a bit, open the foil up and bake another 5 to 7 minutes.

we prefer the mild flavor of regular olive oil in this sauce compared to the stronger flavor of extra-virgin olive oil. don tsp worry about patting the beans dry with towels before tossing them with the sauce; any water that clings to the beans helps to thin out the sauce. this sauce is also good served with crudites or alongside grilled or roasted meat, chicken, or fish., walnuts, garlic cloves , unpeeled, fresh cilantro leaves and stems , tough stem ends trimmed (about 2 bunches), olive oil (see note ), juice from 1 lemon, scallion , sliced thin, salt and ground black pepper, green beans , stem ends trimmed

yukon gold potatoes , scrubbed, with any brown spots removed (you don tsp have to peel yukon gold s), eggs, beaten, matzo meal, chopped fresh chives, chopped fresh parsley, chopped fresh thyme leaves, chopped fresh rosemary leaves, kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, vegetable oil (for frying ), sliced smoked salmon , cut into 20 to 25 slices (optional), sour cream, sliced red onions or chives, 2-inch lengths, capers, caramelized onion (1 portion) (optional)

lukewarm water (you can use cold water, but it will take the dough longer to rise. just don tsp use hot water or you m), granulated yeast (use any kind of yeast-instant, rapid rise, bread machine, active dry or cake yeast(1.3 oz), kosher salt (recommend morton s), unbleached all-purpose flour (recommend gold medal and pillsbury flour), cornmeal , for pizza peel, water, dried thyme leaves (optional), dried rosemary leaves (optional)

prepared nopales (dona maria is my favorite), pork stew meat , cubed up into bite-size bits. if you don tsp like pork then use beef or possibly chicken. also just as yummie without any meat at all., your favorite salsa, a little fresh minced garlic to taste (i like a little more than a little!)