How to Saute?

One of the proper ways to saute is to assemble all ingredients and preparations. Cut the main item into an appropriate size. Trim away the fats from the meats. For poultry and fillets of fish, remove the skin and bones. Pound or butterfly the meats to achieve an even thickness. Vegetables and fruits are generally sliced, but this should be a decision made with respect to the nature of the food itself. For instance, you would certainly slice or chunk pineapple before sauteing it, but you may not need to do so with small button mushrooms.

Marinades, stuffings, or seasonings may be required by specific recipes. Marinades should be allowed a sufficient amount of time to add the correct degree of flavor. Stuffings must be properly prepared, allowed to cool if necessary, then incorporated correctly and secured so that they do not escape during cooking.

Dredging or dusting the item with flour is another common advance preparation technique. This is generally recommended for meat cut into strips and for chicken and fish. Dusting is optional, otherwise, and many chefs feel that it is not always desirable. If you wish, seasoning can be added to the flour. If it is not, it is generally a good idea to season the food lightly with salt, pepper or other items just prior to sauteing.

The cooking medium must be able to reach relatively high temperatures without breaking down or smoking. Clarified butter, neutral-flavored oil, olive oil, or rendered fats such as bacon, goose fat or lard are often used.

A base sauce is usually necessary. There are a number of possible ingredients you may need to have on hand to flavor or finish the sauce. Wine, stock, cognac or liqueur, fortified wine, or water is often used to deglaze the pan. Additional aromatic ingredients, such as shallots, mushrooms, capers, tomatoes or peppers (capsicums) might be required. Butter may be used to finish the sauce; it should be whole butter, diced and either chilled or softened to room temperature.

READ MORE »»

How to Steam Foods?

1. Assemble all ingredients and preparations for steaming -

   • Main ingredients

   • Steaming liquid

   • Additional or optional items for flavoring, finishing, and garnishing

   • Sauce or items necessary to prepare sauce

   Items to be steamed should be naturally tender and of a size and shape that will allow them to cook in a short amount of time. Cut the main item into the appropriate size, if necessary. Fish is generally made into fillets, though there are some classic presentations of whole steamed fish. Poultry breast is often made into a boneless skinless piece. Vegetables and fruits should be handled appropriately. Remove tough skins that could slow down cooking. Cut them into even, regular shapes, so that they will all finish cooking at the same time. Leave shellfish in the shells, unless otherwise indicated.

   Relatively few grains are appropriate for steaming, although two exceptions come to mind. Couscous, not a true grain, is often steamed over a flavorful stew, or prepared on its own over simmering water. Short grain rice may also be steamed. The length of time required to steam raw rice is considerable, however.

   Any liquid may be used for steaming. Water is the most common. If you want to serve the steaming liquid as a flavorful broth along with the steamed food, you may prefer to select from other more highly flavored items: broths or stocks, wine, beer or court bouillon. Adding aromatic ingredients to the liquid will also boost the flavor of the liquid, as well as adding flavor to the food being steamed. Herbs, spices, citrus rind, or ginger root, garlic, or mushrooms could be added.

   Stuffing or fillings, marinades or wrappers can all be used in preparing steamed foods.

2. Assemble all equipments necessary for cooking and serving -

   • Steamer, steamer insert, or other equipment for steaming

   • Steamer racks, pans or inserts

   • Tongs, spoons and spatulas

   • Serving pieces

   The quantity of food being steamed will guide you to the correct equipment. Small amounts of food can be steamed using a small insert. Larger quantities, or foods that require different cooking times, are better prepared in tiered steamers. Remember that it is important to allow enough room for steam to circulate completely around foods as they cook. This will encourage even and rapid cooking.

   Convection or pressure steamers are good choices for steaming large quantities of foods. They allow the chef to have steamed foods prepared in appropriate batch sizes throughout a meal period, or to handle the more intense demands of a banquet or institutional feeding situation.

   In addition to steamers, you will also need to have on hand the necessary tools for handling foods, transferring them from the steamer to serving pieces, containers to hold sauces, spoons, ladles and other serving utensils.

Method

1. Bring the liquid to a full boil in a covered vessels.

   Add enough liquid to the bottom of the steamer to last throughout cooking. Each time you need to add more liquid to the pot, you will lower the cooking temperature, and affect the overall time necessary to prepare steamed foods. If you need to open the lid during cooking time, remember to tilt the lid away from your face and hands, so the steam will not burn you.

2. Add the main item to the steamer on a rack in a single layer.

   To ensure even cooking, foods should be placed in a single layer, not touching one another, so that the steam can circulate completely. Foods may be placed on plates or in shallow dishes on the rack in order to collect any juices that might escape.

3. Replace the lid and allow the steam to build up again.

   It is a good idea to adjust the heat to maintain even, moderate cooking speed. Liquids do not need to be at a rolling boil in order to produce steam. Rapid boiling may cause the liquid to cook away too quickly. Once the food is in the steamer and the cover has been replaced, avoid removing the lid unnecessarily. The drop in temperature can be significant. This makes it a little more difficult to gauge how long foods need to cook, so it may be a good idea to refer to some standard cooking times. Most recipes will include some information about how long specific foods take to steam to the correct doneness. Still, it is important to check the foods, starting at the earliest point at which they might be done.

4. Steam the main item to the correct doneness.

   Steamed foods should be cooked until they are just done. Since steaming is used as a preliminary cooking technique in many cases, remember to stop cooking earlier for par-cooked foods. Foods that are to be pureed once steamed should be cooked until they are easy to pierce with a kitchen fork or paring knife, so they will mash easily. In general, check steamed foods for doneness, taking texture, color, consistency, shape and aroma into account.

5. Serve the food immediately on heated plates with an appropriate sauce, as desired or as indicated but the recipe.

READ MORE »»

Indian and Pakistani Culinary Ingredients

Besides the all-important spices, there are a few ingredients used in Indian and Pakistani cooking that may be unfamiliar but that are readily available or, if not, can be made at home.

Panir - Home-made cream cheese. Bring milk to the boil, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming on top. As the milk starts to rise in the pan, stir in lemon juice in the proportion of 1 tablespoon to 2 1/2 cups milk. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes, by which time firm curds will have formed. Strain through muslin. Let it hang for at least 30 minutes, then press to remove as much moisture as possible. If it has to be very firm, weight it down and leave for some hours in a cool place. This is necessary when it is cut into cubes and cooked with vegetables dishes. It may be added to any of the vegetable preparations for extra nutrition.

Khoa - Unsweetened condensed milk made by boiling milk quickly in a shallow pan (such as a large, heavy frying pan) to allow for as much surface evaporation as possible. It must be stirred constantly. When ready, khoa has a consistency of uncooked pastry. Four cups of milk yield about 90 g of khoa. It is an ingredient in Indian sweetmeats.

Malai - Thick cream. This is not the separated cream sold commercially, but is collected from the top of the milk. The milk is kept boiling steadily in a wide pan, usually with a fan blowing on the surface to cool the top of the milk and hasten formation of the skin. When cool, the skin is removed and the process is repeated. It is possible to buy this type of cream from Lebanese shops, where it is called ashtar.

Panch Phora - 'Panch" means five in Hindi, and panch phora is a combination of five different aromatic seeds. These are used whole and, when added to the cooking oil, impart a flavor typical of certain Indian dishes. Combine 2 tablespoons each of black mustard seed, cumin seed and black cumin seed, 1 tablespoon each of fenugreek seed and fennel seed. Put into a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake before use to ensure even distribution. No substitute.

Oils for cooking - Different oils used in various parts of India give the cookery of each region its distinctive flavor. Til (sesame) seed oil and coconut oil are much used in southern India, and in Bengal, the favorite cooking medium is mustard oil. It is up to your personal taste what type of oil you use, but olive oil is not used in Indian cooking. A tasteless oil such as maize or sunflower oil is best, and may be flavored with ghee.

Ghee - Clarified butter or pure butterfat. It is what gives the rich, distinctive flavor to north Indian cooking. Having no milk solids it can be heated to much higher temperatures than butter without burning. It is sold in cans, packets or tubs. If you find it difficult to buy ghee, make your own by heating butter in a saucepan until it melts and froths. Spoon off foam from the top and pour the melted butter into a heatproof glass bowl, discarding the milk solids in the pan. Leave to cool to room temperature, then chill until set. Spoon off the fat from the top, leaving the residue. Heat the fat again, then strain through fine muslin to remove any remaining solids. This will keep for three or four months without refrigeration.

Yoghurt - In India, this is called dahi or curd and is always unflavored. Natural yoghurt should be used, and if possible choose one with a definite sour flavor. Goat-milk yoghurt or Greek yoghurt is most suitable.

READ MORE »»