735 proving that Recipes

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.

yeast, warm skim milk (or any other milks really), water , that is warm, sugar, egg, melted butter, flour (or more or less as needed), salt, extra melted butter, cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg

pumpkin , not pie mix, evaporated milk, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, melted, duncan hines butter recipe cake mix, pecans, chopped, cream cheese, powdered sugar, cool whip

lean ground beef, garlic salt, pepper, tomato sauce, egg noodles, cream cheese, sour cream, green onions, minced, minced green pepper, grated cheddar cheese, pam cooking spray

moist yellow cake mix, vanilla instant pudding mix, eggs, margarine or 1/2 cup butter, softened not melted, water, brown sugar, packed firm, almond extract , pure, vanilla extract , pure, nutmeg, cinnamon, water, chopped fresh pecans, brown sugar , packed, canned condensed milk, margarine or 1 tbsp butter, vanilla extract , pure

cream cheese, softened, mayonnaise, worcestershire sauce, onion salt or 1/2 tsp minced dried onion, garlic salt, chili sauce, milk (optional)

heads broccoli, chopped, garlic, sliced, red onion, diced, grape tomatoes, halved, white wine, vegetable broth, asiago cheese, grated (or parmesan), red pepper flakes (or more if you like heat ), olive oil, fettuccine pasta , cooked according to package directions, salt and pepper

vegetable oil, fresh lemon juice, garlic cloves, minced, salt, pepper, romaine lettuce , torn, tomatoes, chopped, swiss cheese, shredded, almonds, parmesan cheese, grated, cooked bacon, crumbled, caesar-flavor croutons

fresh parsley, chopped, garlic cloves, finely chopped, butter, shallots, halved and thinly sliced, extra virgin olive oil, grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, whole wheat spaghetti

pasta (uncooked ), stalk celery, chopped, pineapple, drained and chopped, ham, chopped, corn, drained, mayonnaise, cream (i use light ), parsley, chopped, lemon juice, salt, pepper

ground beef , or to taste, taco seasoning mix , or to taste, water, chicken-flavored ramen noodle soup, mexican-style stewed tomatoes, water, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese

dry mustard, white vinegar, turmeric, salt, mixed italian spices, sugar, eggs

extra virgin olive oil (evoo), shallots, halved and thinly sliced, garlic cloves, finely chopped, salt and pepper, whole wheat spaghetti, grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, chopped flat leaf parsley (a generous handful)

boneless skinless chicken breasts, real butter, water, fresh green beans, italian dressing (not creamy or you can always make your own), firm tomatoes or 3 roma tomatoes, chopped (optional)

lean ground beef, onion, chopped, garlic clove, minced, oregano (or more to taste), olive oil, frozen spinach, frozen yellow squash, spaghetti sauce (i prefer classico), ricotta cheese (optional), bow tie pasta, cooked (or other chunky pasta), parmesan cheese (optional)

boneless skinless chicken breasts, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, swanson chicken broth, extra virgin olive oil, salt (to taste), pepper (to taste), accent seasoning (to taste), season salt (to taste)

vegetable broth or 2 3/4 cups chicken broth, brown rice, bacon (optional), ground cumin, dried oregano, dried brown lentils or 1 lb dry green lentils, water, salt, pepper, garlic powder , to taste, olive oil, zucchini, halved and sliced, white onion, chopped, lemon juice, sharp cheddar cheese, grated and divided