Evaporated Milk vs. Sweetened Condensed Milk

You’ve seen them sharing space on grocery store shelves, both flaunting the name ‘milk’ on their labels, but neither tasting quite right in your Cheerios. Evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk are both technically milk, with a few modifications.

Both are the result of removing about 60% of the water content from whole milk — think milk concentrate. With evaporated milk, you can reconstitute it by adding an equal amount of water and use it as you would regular milk. You’ll likely notice a different taste and darker color if you try this, as evaporated milk is heated slightly to extend shelf life and prevent bacteria growth. Survivalists everywhere will appreciate the fact that evaporateed milk doesn’t require refrigeration until it’s opened.

In addition to having 60% of its water content removed, sweetened condensed milk has added sugar, giving it a darker color, sweeter flavor and thicker consistency. It can’t be reconstituted and used like regular milk, but is usually reserved for adding richness or creaminess to desserts. Like evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk must only be refrigerated once opened.

And there you have it, the difference between evaporated and sweetened condensed milk.

As a personal chef, I’m fortunate to be treated to a new food adventure with every client or project. No two days are ever alike. Recently, I was hired by a company to manage a cooking demonstration at one of those ginormous retail stores where everything comes in bulk (because who doesn’t need 500 Tootsie Rolls, right?) making sure the store employees prepared the client’s product and distributed it to customers for sampling.

At the end of my long day, my feet were tired, my back sore and my Yes-We-Can-enthusiasm about the resurgence of American civility had morphed into an indignant Oh-No-You-Didn’t (neck roll and finger snap optional)!

Never in my professional life had I witnessed such bad behavior (and I think it’s worth noting that pre-chefdom, I worked for members of Congress, in a restaurant kitchen and for a boss who once threw a bag of coffee beans against the conference room wall in a fit of rage.) But that’s a story for another time.

What I learned that day is that my fellow Americans need a crash course in EAT-iquette – the proper way to eat and behave at a consumer cooking demonstration.

1. Respect the line. Don’t stroll past dozens of people in front of you with your hand out and then feign surprise that those same folks aren’t standing there for sport. Seriously.

2. It’s called a sample for a reason. Companies want to introduce you to their product, not buy you dinner. Revisiting for a second bite is flattering. Swinging back around for thirds, fourths or even fifths is just plain wrong. And yes, the people handing out the food recognize you even when you pretend every time is your first time.

3. Check your kids. Don’t send your little ones to grab a sample alone. The staff have no way of knowing if your child is allergic to wheat, peanuts or polysorbate-mono-blah-blah-blah and it’s never in good taste to let your kids run around willy nilly. You might not be bothered by Little Timmy kicking the shopping cart of the person in front of you or playing touch-every-piece-of-food-on-the-tray, but I can assure you other people are. Really.

4. You don’t have to buy to try. Don’t pretend to buy the product, dropping it excitedly into your cart only to abandon it in a nearby and usually inappropriate aisle. Hiding food in the sock bin is completely unacceptable.

5. Keep your hands to yourself. Never, under any circumstances, put your hand in a serving dish, no matter where you are. (I can’t believe I had to write that either.)Most samples are distributed in individual cups or plates. Wait for the staff to pass one to you or pick a pre-portioned sample from the serving tray (that would be the tray holding all the tiny plates or cups filled with food).

6. Tell your story walking. Once you have your sample in hand, step away from the table or counter to enjoy it. Under no uncertain terms should you stand and eat while leaning over the other samples or food on the table. I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the rest of the General Public isn’t interested in eating a sample garnished with the crumbs that fall from your mouth. And whether you’re sampling or not, chewing with your mouth closed is a good thing.

7. Mind your manners. Last, but certainly not least, remember that the beings handing you the food are people. A simple please and thank you will go a long way.

So, next time you’re shopping and you see people handing out samples of food, resist the temptation to act like you were raised by wolves and mob the table while barking at the attendant to put more on your plate. Make America proud. Check your EAT-iquette.

Tips for Tuesday

I’m teaching a knife skills class tonight at L’academie de Cuisine in Bethesda (www.lacademie.com) so I thought I’d share a few tips to keep you sharp in the kitchen.

1. Always cut on a cutting board. Smooth, slippery surfaces, like marble, metal or glass, can damage your knife’s blade or cause it to slip as you’re cutting.

2. Place a damp paper towel underneath your cutting board to keep it from moving while you chop.

3. NEVER put knives in a sink full of water. Water, especially sudsy water will hide the knife and an unsuspecting dishwasher can cut themselves if they don’t know the knife is there.

4. NEVER try to catch a falling knife. A wise person once said, “a falling knife has no handle,” meaning it’s more likely you’ll grab the blade instead of the handle in your attempt to catch it. If you drop your knife, take one big step back, put your hands in the air and no one will get hurt.

5. Dull knives are dangerous. You are far more likely to cut yourself by trying to force a dull blade through your food than with a nice, sharp blade. If you’re unskilled at using the whetstone to keep your blade razor-sharp, leave it to the professionals. Many kitchen supply stores will sharpen your blades while you shop.

Safe chopping!

Yellow Watermelon

I love a good surprise and I got one recently in the produce section – yellow watermelon. The bright yellow flesh caught my eye and into my reusable canvas grocery sack it went. The second surprise came later when I tasted my discovery. It tasted exactly the same as its red-fleshed cousin!

Yellow watermelons are one of more than 1,200 types of watermelon grown in 96 countries. They’re available year round, thanks to Mexican imports, but melons from California and Arizona are in season from May to October. The yellow flesh is due to the absence of the antioxidant lycopene, which gives tomatoes and other watermelons their red color.

Get Your Chicken On!

I couldn’t let the last day of National Chicken Month go by without sharing some random tidbits about our favorite feathered fowl. Here they are in no particular order.

1. Skin Color

The color of a chicken’s skin, which can range from white to yellow, is directly related to the chicken’s diet and not necessarily an indicator of quality.

2. Free Range

Chickens are typically raised indoors in houses that can hold tens of thousands of birds. Free range birds are permitted to move about freely outdoors as much as they’d like. They’re also usually fed vegetarian diets, without antibiotics that are often added to chicken feed to speed up the birds’ growth so they’re ready to sell sooner.

3. Determining Doneness

Poultry should always be served fully cooked, until well-done. Because it becomes dry, tough and stringy when overcooked, it’s important to cook it just until it’s done and no longer. Here are a few ways to determine a chicken’s doneness:

1. Temperature – Chicken should be cooked until it’s 165°-170°. When using a thermometer, make sure to insert it in the thickest part of the meat, away from any bones.

2. Color of Juices – When a sharp knife is inserted into the chicken, any juices that run out should be clear in color, not pink.

3. Touch – Much like beef, chicken flesh will toughen up as it cooks. When touched, cooked chicken should spring back quickly.

4. How Long Can I Keep it

…in the freezer?

According to the USDA, if wrapped properly, a raw, whole chicken can be frozen for up to a year. Raw chicken parts can be frozen for up to 9 months. Cooked chicken should only stay in the freezer for up to 4 months.

…in the fridge?

Raw chicken, whole or parts, should not be refrigerated for more than 48 hours. Cooked chicken or leftovers should be eaten within that same timeframe.

If you have any questions about how to safely prepare, package, cook and store chicken or any foods, visit the USDA’s Food Safety Education website at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Food_Safety_Education/usda_meat_&_poultry_hotline/index.asp

How to Cut Up a Chicken

Cutting up a whole chicken can be quite the scary proposition for the average cook. The truth is, like most things culinary, it’s not as difficult as it seems. All you need is a big cutting board, a sharp knife, kitchen shears, good instruction and the will to get your hands dirty…really, really dirty and sticky to boot. It will feel completely awkward the first few birds you tackle, but like everything, practice will make perfect or at least good enough to get the job done.

Follow the Fat – When you’re cutting up a chicken, this phrase will likely become your mantra as unlike beef, whose fat is marbled nicely throughout the meat, chickens carry their fat underneath the skin. This makes it easier to remove before cooking, but the fat deposits happen to lay across many of the chicken’s primary joints, where you’ll be making your cuts. By learning to follow the fat lines, you’ll be able to break down your bird with ease.

I know most will argue they don’t need to know how to butcher a chicken because your local grocer sells it already cut into pieces. What they may not know is they’re most likely paying more for the pieces than they’d pay for a whole bird. And with the pieces you’re not left with the lovely chicken carcass that can be used to make stock – I know all my novice cooks are saving their carcasses to make homemade chicken stock, right?

If you’re ready to take the plunge into the world of chicken butchery, fasten your seatbelts and let’s go!

Note: It’s important that anything that touches the raw chicken (including your hands) not come into contact with anything else until they’ve been thoroughly washed and then washed again. So unless you’re prepared to thoroughly wash your phone or your children or anything else, don’t be tempted to answer it or touch them once you’ve started.

Another Note: I’m a darn good cook and I’ve been called a wordsmith more than once, but a photographer I am not. It’s my hope that these photos, while not works of art, will serve as a guide to help you as you cut up your bird.

1. Place chicken on a large cutting board, breast side up.

 Remove Legs & Thighs

1. Using a sharp knife, cut through the skin between the breast and the top of the drumstick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Place your hand under the leg and press upwards until the bone pops out of the joint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Cut around the joint to remove the leg and thigh. (The thigh is underneath the drumstick.) Be sure to cut off the oyster, the tender piece of meat found at the end of the thigh, next to the chicken’s backbone.) You will have to lift the bird slightly and lay it on its side to do this.

4. Repeat on other side to remove the second leg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Separate the Leg and Thigh

1. Place the leg/thigh on cutting board, skin side down.

2. Separate the leg and thigh by cutting along the line of fat that runs directly over the joint.

 

 

 

 

 

  

Remove Wings

1. Use your fingers to find the joint that connects the wing to the breast.

2. Cut straight through the joint to remove the wing.

3. Repeat on other side to remove the second wing.

4. Optional: Cut the wing directly through each joint to create drummettes. Save wing tips for stock.

  

  

 

Remove the Back

1. Turn the chicken over so that the breast is on the cutting board.

2. Use kitchen shears or a sharp knife to cut directly along the line of fat that runs diagonally across the chicken, all the way up to the neck. (You will cut through some bone.)

3. Repeat on other side to completely remove the back and neck.

 

 

 

 

 

Remove the Breasts

1. Gently cut through the cartilage that separates the breasts. Stop when you hit bone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Pick up the breast and use your fingers to separate the flesh from the cartilage, exposing the breastbone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Once the cartilage is removed, you should be able to pull the breastbone out. If not, use your knife to help separate the flesh from the breastbone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Place chicken breasts back on cutting board, skin side down, and cut them in half, cutting along the line where the breastbone was. (If you want boneless chicken breasts, simply use your knife to separate any remaining bones from the breast.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the chicken is cut into pieces, use your knife to remove any fat deposits.

See how easy that was? If you’re brave enough to give this a try, please drop me a line and let me know how it went.

Dark Meat? White Meat?

It’s National Chicken Month and to celebrate, many of my posts over the next couple of weeks will focus on – you guessed it – chicken! First up, the difference between white and dark meat.

Dark meat. White meat. Dark meat? White meat? I can remember as a kid hearing these words tossed around while standing in line at KFC. I had no idea what it meant then, only that it somehow affected how many drumsticks – my personal favorite – ended up in the bucket. At some point I figured out that white meat referred to the oft-overcooked chicken breast and wings and the moist, juicy legs and thighs were the dark meat. And here’s why…

Dark meat’s darker in color due to the presence of a protein called myoglobin. Myoglobin supplies oxygen to the chicken’s muscles, so the more the muscle’s used, the more myoglobin in the muscle. Chickens don’t fly so the breast and wing aren’t put to much use, requiring very little myoglobin. The thigh and leg muscles, however, are worked frequently, (all that running around like a chicken with its head…well, you get the picture) requiring more myoglobin.

How to…Make a Vinaigrette

Making a vinaigrette is more technique than recipe. Once you know the basics, you’re free to mix up the ingredients (no pun intended) to suit your tastes and salad. Think of a vinaigrette as a sauce. It should enhance, not dominate, the flavors in your salad.

A basic vinaigrette consists of two key ingredients – fat and acid. The fat is typically some type of oil – olive oils, nut oils, even vegetable oils. (Vinaigrettes shouldn’t be confused with salad dressings, which rely on items like mayonnaise, sour cream, yogurt or buttermilk for their thick and creamy texture.)

Acids include any type of vinegar, as well as acidic fruit juices like orange, lemon, lime and grapefruit. Oil (fat) and vinegar (acid) don’t play well together naturally, so they’re whisked together temporarily or emulsified just before they’re used.

The traditional ratio of fat to acid in a vinaigrette is 3 to 1, meaning 3 parts oil to 1 part acid. This ratio should be used only as a guide, not law. The ratio can and will vary based on the types of oil and vinegars you’re using and the other ingredients in your salad.

The ultimate goal is to create a vinaigrette with the perfect balance of flavors so your palate’s not assaulted by a mixture that’s too acidic or too oily. Keep in mind that you’ll likely want to use less of oils with stronger flavors, like extra virgin olive oil and most nut oils like hazelnut or walnut oil. Experiment and taste until you find the ratio and balance that’s right for you.

Other ingredients, like herbs, spices, mustard, honey, sugar or minced garlic or shallots, can be added to give your vinaigrette an extra burst of flavor. Those should be incorporated before whisking in your oil.

Once assembled, don’t be tempted to taste your vinaigrette on its own. You should always taste your vinaigrette or salad dressing in combination with the foods you’ll be serving it with. Pinch a piece of lettuce, grab a bite of tomato and dip it into your vinaigrette to give your taste buds a preview of what’s to come.

Vinaigrettes can be made ahead, but be sure to re-whisk just before serving as the oil and vinegar will separate. Even though you can prepare your vinaigrette ahead of time, don’t add it to your salad until just before you’re ready to serve or your crisp salad greens, veggies and even your meat or seafood will wind up a soggy mess. I’ve found that homemade vinaigrettes pack a bigger flavor punch than their store-bought counterparts so you’ll likely use loads less if you make it yourself.

To make a vinaigrette, combine your acid along with any other ingredients you’re adding for flavor in a bowl. Whisking constantly, gradually add the fat in a slow steady stream until your vinaigrette comes together, which means you should see no separation of oil and vinegar in your bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper . The longer your vinaigrette ingredients sit, the stronger their flavors will be so try whisking up your vinaigrette an hour or so before you’ll be ready to use it for a nicely flavored mix. Don’t forget to rewhisk just before serving.

Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Whisk vinegar and mustard together in a small bowl.

2. Gradually add oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly. Rewhisk just before using.

Makes about ¼ cup.

For Your Grilling Pleasure

You’ll have to forgive me. I’ve been away for a few weeks enjoying a grown-ups-only vacation with my husband, teaching summer cooking camps for kids and teens at L’academie de Cuisine (www.lacademie.com), attending the wedding of great friends, treating my 5-year-old to a trip to Sesame Place (www.sesameplace.com) and visiting the historic (and fun) sites of Philadelphia.

That hasn’t left me much time to blog, but in honor of all the grilling I’m sure everyone’s enjoying this time of year, I thought I’d post a link to an article I wrote several years ago for the Food Network Summer Grilling Guide. It’s all about — you guessed it — the good old American hamburger and how it’s captured the country’s hearts and stomachs.

I’ll get back to a semi-regular posting schedule next week, but until then…enjoy!

http://www.greattastepcs.com/files/AmericanClassic.pdf

Whole Grain Salads

The second in my series of guest blog posts is now up and ready for reading at http://www.culinate.com/mix/dinner_guest. This go round I’m offering a look at incorporating whole grains into your salads and a recipe for a tasty quinoa salad. Enjoy!