Et cetera - Et cetera . . . . . . .(Updated)

And So forth, And So Forth.

As promised, I would like to update this post, and it has been long overdue.  But here it is, better late than never.
A few practical things that you could do in your kitchen, such as another way to make a white sauce that could be interesting too. Thickened butter is convenient to have at hand.  I use lots of nuts for garnishes, and also to add in my cooking.  Almond is easy to work with, you could peel and ground the almonds to make an excellent almond meal, and so forth, and so forth. 

In the kitchen.

Thickened Butter (beurre manié)

100g softened butter 
100g flour
Mash together, then form into a roll, wrap in greaseproof paper
Store in the fridge.  Slice off what you need.

The Prep
Beurre Manié

 100 softened butter mix with 100g flour, to make a smooth mixture, form it into a long roll, wrap in waxed paper, store refrigerated.  Slice to use as needed.


The trick of French cooking to thicken sauces by stirring in small pieces of a paste made by mixing an equal amount of butter with flour.  Usually, it is done at the end of the cooking time, such as to thicken slow-cooked stews or casserole-daube.  It is a good idea to have a supply on hand.




White Sauce
Smooth white sauce using olive oil.

White Sauce with Olive Oil

A basic white sauce is usually made with butter, flour and milk.  It is just as good with olive oil.  This recipe is based on Jenny Baker’s

300 ml of milk

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons flour

Put milk, oil and flour into a small saucepan and beat over medium heat using a wire whisk.  As the sauce begins to thicken, lower the temperature, bring to the boil and continue to beat for 2 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For a cheese sauce, simply add a pinch of nutmeg and stir in 75 g grated cheese, off the heat.

Cheese Sauce

You will cook lasagna with ease using this white sauce.

Fresh Almond
Peeling the skin of almond nut.

100 g almond nuts soak in hot boiling water for 1 minute

Skin and let the nut dry on a cool and dry place

Sliver, and keep in a jar to store.

Slivered Almond

It is handy to have ready in your pantry, useful for garnishes from salads to cakes

Slice the almond finely with a sharp knife
to make slivered almond

To make almond meal, grind the nuts in the food processor.

Miscellaneous

Suggestions and Tips

Flowers of herbs
are excellent for salad and
garnishes.

How do we keep fresh herbs last longer
Cut the fresh herbs early in the morning, wash and clean straight away
Put the clean, fresh herbs in a salad spinner to get rid of the excess water.
Take the herbs out and place them in a cloth bag made out of cotton or linen
Keep in the refrigerator.

Fresh herbs in a bowl
with water 

These herbs will last for at least one week, they are ready to use for cooking and garnishes
Another way, place the fresh herbs on a bowl add water as you would have flowers in vases.

Cleaning and keeping lettuces/leafy vegetables is the same as the herbs.
I keep in the salad spinner,  but watch out with iceberg lettuces, as it gets brownish on the edges.

Lemons and limes are beneficial, they are excellent for cooking, baking, added in tea and cold drinks, and also for cleaning.  I use them to clean from pots and pans, plates to drinking glasses.  Lemon/limes give extra freshness and lovely smell.
There are times that we got plenty,  I store them on a cane basket, keep in a dry place.  Any cut of these citruses place them in a container and refrigerate.
Preserved lemon and limes are excellent for cooking, especially Moroccan dishes.  How to preserve lemon, here is a recipe based on my Tajine cooking book by Le Creuset
Preserved Lemons: These are ready to use in two weeks and will keep in an airtight screw-top jar in the refrigerator for 2-3 months. Keep them submerged in the brine solution at all times.
3-4 firm lemons
4 tablespoons salt.
Brine solution made from dissolving 1 rounded tablespoon salt in 2 cups hot water.
Cut the lemons into quarters and rub a level teaspoon of salt all over each piece.  Pack these pieces very tightly in a clean jam jar. Make the brine solution and cool it.  Pour over the lemons making sure they are fully submerged.  A part of crumpled baking or greaseproof paper can be pushed down on top of them.  Put on a lid and store in the refrigerator.


Onions: onion has a strong smell and taste when it is raw.  I keep a whole onion in a basket, stay in the pantry, once it is sliced, keep in a container and refrigerate.  It applies to garlic too.

Fresh chilli and capsicums are refrigerated, but sliced capsicum has to be put in an airtight container to seal in the smell.  Grind fresh hot chilli, red capsicums, add salt until smooth to make a paste.  Pour into a clean jar, topped with oil entirely, make sure the paste is immersed under the oil.  Put on the lid, and screw tightly, keep in the refrigerator.

You could look up for the recipe or the way to do this in an older post (28-04-2012)



Baking: Cakes - Scones
How to keep cakes stay moist.
It is for pound cakes, often pound cakes could be dry, and they are not very pleasant to eat.  There are ways to keep the cake stays moist.  I bake pound cake with strawberry and some liquor, my intention by adding them is that the cake will remain moist.  Another trick is when the cake is fully baked, get it out and leave it for over ten minutes in the pan before turning out to cool.  Or wrap it hot in a clean tea towel for extra moist,  keep in the refrigerator.  The next day you can dress the cake.

Pound cake with strawberry and liquor.

 It applies for cupcakes too, I baked large cakes of this batter.

Keeping the cake in the refrigerator.

Dressing the cake:

White chocolate icing with raw macadamia for the sweet, creamy and nutty topping.

Unwrap the cake, dress the cake as you like it.  The pound cake was decorated with white chocolate icing and macadamia nuts.

The cake keeps well and freezes
well too.




The cake is perfect for keeping in the pantry in an airtight container for a few days.  Bring the cake to share for a gathering,  as it can be done a few days before quickly and safely.

Pound cake with strawberries and cherry liquor

Note:  Moist cakes can be achieved by adding sour cream, mashed sour fruits-berries, oranges, and pulp of fruits such as cooked apples, plums, to the cake batter.

Scones

You wish to have crusty scones, cool the scone on the baking tin or on a cooling tray.


But for moist scones, wrap the scones while they are hot in a tea towel to cool.

Things to remember for baking scones:

-  Knead quickly and gently, to get lighter scones
- Overdo the kneading, and it will make a hard or tough and dense scones
-  Bake in a hot oven, do not overbake to prevent having dry and hard scones
-  For a rich scone, add egg, and bake in a hot oven for a lesser time
-  Serving scones, place them wrap on pretty cloth (to keep moist), and place butter, cream, jam on the side
(Let every one helps them self, to cut and to dress them)
- To serve a large crowd, dress them before serving.  Practical reasons-to make things easy, you can wear them a few hours before serving, cover the platter of the scones with plastic wrap tightly and adequately.

Sponges
To bake a perfect sponge
- use fresh eggs, keep in room temperature
- beat the eggs and sugar until thick and fluffy, about 10-13 minutes using an electric mixer
Sift the ingredients a few times and thoroughly, fold into the egg mixture gently.
Bake in the preheated oven, for 10 or 20 minutes depending on the recipe
Freshly baked sponge, cool on a cooling tray, away from the draft.
To keep sponges: unfilled sponges put on a plate, cover with plastic adequately.   Keep in the pantry for a day before you dress it.  Keep in the freezer for a week or more.

I learnt that a single sponge filled with whipped cream freezes well, defrost overnight in the refrigerator to serve it.



Spicy food.
Cooking spicy food.   There are problems, though, while you are cooking, the smell can be lingering in the kitchen for a long time.  To avoid that, always cook the dishes over medium to low heat, especially if you have to do a long braising.
You could freeze curries or other spicy dishes of course,  but the flavour can be intensified after a long time, they have a stronger taste.
Dishes which contain a lot of garlic is not a good idea to freeze.  I would omit the garlic, freeze the food when you need to have it, take it out to defrost,  cook to reheat the dish and add the crushed garlic onto it.
(Now you have a fresh garlic flavour, the food taste fresher)
Javanese cooking using coconut milk such as sambal goreng (hot and spicy chicken/beef) and terik daging (beef or chicken in mild coconut sauce).  They freeze well but omit the coconut milk while cooking the dishes, use water for the braising until they reach tenderness.  Let them cool, put in a

Chicken meatballs in chilli-red capsicum
for sambal goreng (Javanese cooking)

Container, sealed to freeze.  When you want to have it, take it out to defrost. Reheat gently over low heat add the coconut milk, keep on cooking, bring to simmer.
Sambel goreng recipe, please look up in an older post.

The right and the sealed container is essential for freezing spicy food.
Keep the spicy food in the special compartment away from cakes and sweets.





I hope these tips are coming handy for you all.

To Be Updated  Today, 13 March 2019
Susy