I've
always enjoyed cooking. I grew up in the country, so we didn't
run to the store every time we needed something.
My mother
taught me to cook from scratch and to this day I have a hard
time buying mixes. It always amazes me that you have to put
eggs in a cake mix, it's usually the eggs that I run out of,
and I always have the sugar, flour and baking powder, so I
don't see the point in a lot of mixes.
I can
make most things from scratch just as fast as opening a mix...
it is a lot less expensive and usually tastes better also.
Ok, it's
time to get in the kitchen!
BASIC
WHITE SAUCE
2 T butter or margarine
2 T flour
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1 cup milk
Melt butter in sauce pan over low heat. Blend in flour,
salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring until
mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir
in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil
and stir 1 minute.
There
a several things you can do with a basic white sauce.
Here are a few of my favorites.
Country
Biscuits and Gravy
1 recipe Basic White Sauce
course ground pepper
bulk sausage, browned
Serve
over warm biscuits (see recipe below)
Cheese Sauce:
1 recipe Basic White Sauce
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard.
Add
the grated cheese while the white sauce is still hot,
but not on the burner. Stir until cheese is melted.
Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain
macaroni. In a large pan sauce pan of white sauce blend
the drained macaroni with the grated cheese. Pour into
greased 9x13" pan. Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes.
CREAM
OF POTATO SOUP
6
tablespoon butter or margarine
6 tablespoon flour
4 cups milk
2 cups potatoes, 1" cubed
1 large onion, chopped
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Place potatoes in a medium sauce pan with just enough
hot water to cover. Cook until just tender when pierced
with a fork. In a large soup pot, melt butter, sauté
onion until translucent. Add flour and stir until
smooth and bubbly. Slowly add 2 cups of the milk and
stir with a wire whisk until smooth. Add remaining
milk, salt and pepper. Stir until thick. Drain potatoes
and add to soup.
Variations:
Corn
Chowder
Brown 6 slices of bacon in a skillet. When cool, crumble
bacon. Drain 1 can of corn. Add corn and bacon to
soup. For fresh corn chowder husk 3 ears of corn,
and cut the corn off the cob. Cook corn in small saucepan
with enough water to cover. Cook 7 minutes. Drain,
add to chowder.
Cheddar
Bacon Soup
Brown 6 slices of bacon in a skillet. Drain and cool,
then crumble bacon. Add bacon and 2 ½ cup grated
cheddar cheese to soup.
BISCUITS
Biscuits
are so good with a meal, and just as easy to make
from scratch! Here is my favorite recipe with a few
variations.
3
cups flour
4-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2-1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon shortening, butter or margarine
1 cup milk
1 egg
Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cream
of tartar together lightly. Cut in shortening until
mixture is course with particles the size of peas.
Make a well in the center of mixture; pour in half
the milk and mix gently. Add egg with remaining milk
to mixture and mix lightly with a fork. Turn out onto
lightly floured surface. Roll or pat to thickness
of 1/2" to 3/4". Cut with lightly floured
cutter. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees
for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
RC Note: Use a drinking glass
as a biscuit cutter, just be sure to dip it in flour
to prevent sticking. You can also drop them onto a
cookie sheet by the spoonful.
Variations:
Cheddar
Biscuits:
Add 1 cup grated cheddar cheese, ½ t garlic
powder and ½ t onion powder to the biscuits.
Dumplings for soup:
Add 2 tablespoons milk to the biscuit recipe, and
drop by spoonful onto boiling soup. Reduce heat to
low and cover pot. Cook 15 minutes covered, then uncover
and cook 10 minutes more.
Quick Cinnamon Rolls:
Roll out biscuit dough on a floured surface. Spread
with lots of butter or margarine. Mix 1/4 cup sugar
with 1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon and spread over dough.
Roll up jelly roll style (like a sleeping bag). Then
slice 2" thick and put in a greased 9x9"
pan and bake at 400°F for about 20-25 minutes.
BROWNIES
12
tablespoons cocoa
2/3 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs
1-1/4 cup flour (for high altitude use 1-½
cup)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup nuts, optional
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease baking pan, 9x13".
Mix sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa in mixer. Stir
in remaining ingredients. Spread in pan. Bake 30 minutes
or until brownies start to pull away from sides of
pan. Do not over bake. Cool slightly. Cut into bars.
HOT
FUDGE PUDDING CAKE
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons shortening, melted
1 cup finely chopped nuts, optional
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1-3/4 cup hot water
Heat oven to 350°F.
Measure flour, sugar,
2 tablespoons cocoa, and the baking powder in a bowl.
Blend in milk and shortening; stir in nuts. Pour into
ungreased square pan, 9x9x2.
Stir
together sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa; sprinkle over batter.
Pour hot water over batter.
Bake 45 minutes. While warm, spoon cake into dessert
dishes and spoon sauce over each serving. If desired,
serve with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.
Makes 9 servings.
TEXAS
SHEET CAKE
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 stick margarine
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup shortening, or margarine
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon soda
1 tablespoon vanilla
nuts
Bring cocoa, margarine, water and shortening to a
boil. Cool and add eggs and add to dry mixture. Add
remaining ingredients. Bake 25 to 30 minutes at 350
degrees.
Bring all to a boil except powdered sugar. Cool slightly
and add the powdered sugar, beat until smooth.
COOKING
SCHOOL
Tips for Beginning Cooks
Shortening
and margarine can usually be interchanged in a recipe, butter
is usually used for flavor, but you can substitute margarine
most of the time. Make sure you use margarine and not a
spread.
If
you need to thicken something like soup or gravy, an easy
thickener are instant potato flakes. Add a tablespoon at
a time until desired thickness is reached.
A chocolate
dessert is the perfect ending to a meal. One of the easiest
ways to cook with chocolate is to use powdered cocoa. You
can find this on any baking isle at the grocery store.
When
trying a new recipe, it is a good idea to read through the
entire recipe first. That way you can find out what cooking
techniques are going to be used. Next, assemble the ingredients
and set out the necessary equipment. If you don't understand
a cooking technique check out this website: everydaycook.com.
This is a
really good site with lots of information.
Substitutions
Baking
Chocolate
3 tablespoons cocoa powder plus 3 tablespoon shortening or
margarine = 1 square unsweetened baking chocolate
Milk
1/2 cup evaporated milk plus 1/2 cup water or
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk plus 7/8 cup water plus 2 teaspoons
butter = 1 cup milk
Buttermilk
1 tablespoon vinegar and enough milk to measure 1 cup = 1
cup buttermilk
Self-Raising
Flour
1 cup all-purpose flower plus
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/8 teaspoon salt = 1 cup
self-raising flour
Cake
Flour
1 cup minuts 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour = 1 cup cake
flour
Whole-Wheat
Flour
7/8 cup all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons wheat germ =
1 cup whole-wheat flour
Sugar 1-1/3 cup brown sugar or 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Light Brown Sugar
1 cup white sugar plus 1 tablespoon molasses = 1 cup light
brown sugar
Molasses
3/4 cup dark-brown sugar plus 1/4 cup water = 1 cup molasses
Honey
1-1/4 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup liquid = 1 cup honey
Cooking
Terms
The French
term julienne refers to thin, matchstick-like
pieces of food that are cut into 2x1/4x/1/4-inch strips.
In the
white sauce recipe is a cooking technique called roué,
which is where you heat butter, add flour until you get a
paste, that paste is called roué. Usually when you
want to make gravy, you make a roué, adding different
liquids to make the desired gravy. You could add milk, beef
stock or chicken stock.
