What are the most essential, or common, cooking ingredients that we usually overlook? In this blog post, we'll be looking at some of the most used ingredients in the kitchen and why they're so, well, common.
#1 - EGG
Eggs are used in all sorts of foods: baking, custards, sauces, etc. Adding an egg to a dish can turn it into the perfect meal (think a hard-boiled egg in your salad). Whipped egg white is responsible for leavening your baking, so you don't end up with a little rock of dough after you've baked your dish. Egg yolks are great emulsifiers, which means they help blend other ingredients together, such as oil and water. Finally, eggs are the most common base in custards.
One recipe that depends on egg is... mayonnaise!
The main technique used in making mayonnaise is whisking! Sounds pretty simple, but if you don't whisk, you don't end up with mayo - you'll have a nice seasoned and oily raw egg yolk. Making mayonnaise uses the egg yolk to emulsify the other ingredients, and the egg yolk texture and taste is the base of your mayo.
In this recipe, I learned that making mayo requires a lot of whisking. If you stop whisking, or don't whisk hard enough, the mayo won't turn out right (see notes).
Here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
1 tsp. water
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 large egg yolk
3/4 - 1 C. canola oil (can use other vegetable oil)
Directions:
In a large glass bowl, combine water, lemon juice, salt, and egg yolk. You may want to wrap a towel around your bowl to keep it from sliding around.
Whisk yolk continously, and add 2-3 drops of oil.
Keep whisking while you pour a (small!) steady stream of oil into the bowl.
After 1/4 C. oil has been added, you can add the rest of the oil a little bit faster.
Taste and adjust as desired.
Notes:
Whisk vigorously! And add the oil slowly! If you stop whisking, or add the oil too quickly, the mayo will break (it won't be as creamy and spreadable).
#2 - WATER
Pretty basic, huh? Maybe you didn't even think water counted, or maybe you don't think I should've included it here. But... it's important! Imagine making pasta without water, or any baked good without adding some. Water is a great direct cooking medium, when you boil or steam or poach in water (think pasta or spinach or eggs), and its also an awesome indirect cooking medium, such as when you use a water bath (think cheesecake), or it can be sued as a brine for meats. Also, water is great at cooling down foods, like after you boil pasta, you run it under cold water so it doesn't keep cooking accidentally.
Today we'll be making pan-steamed snap peas, using water as a direct cooking medium.
The main technique here is, you guessed it, pan-steaming! Pan-steaming is great for tender vegetables, and is a very fast cooking method. Basically, you put your veggies and a little bit of water into a very hot pan, and cover it tightly so that your veggies are cooked by the pressurized steam.
In this recipe, I learned that pan-steaming is a great option when you have little time, and its a great way to change up your typical veggie intake, and it tastes great! I had never had snap peas any other way than raw, so this was a great way to change it up, and add some flavour with the butter. I also leaned about the importance of using a sealing lid: your lid must fit your pan, or the steam won't be high enough pressure to cook your snap peas.
Here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
1/2 pound (224g) snap peas, stems and tough veins removed
1/4 cup water
1-2 Tbsp. butter
kosher salt
Directions:
Heat a large sauce pan or other shallow pan over high heat.
Combine water and snap peas in a bowl.
When the pan is hot (hot enough that water beads on the surface), add in the peas and water. Immediately cover with tight lid and hold down as you shake the pan for 1 minute over the element.
Reduce heat to medium-low and remove lid. Add butter and salt.
Notes:
A tight-fitting lid is crucial, as well as heating the pan up hot enough prior to adding the peas and water, so that enough steam is created to cook your snap peas.
#3 - SUGAR
Sweet, sweet, sugar. The unique thing about sugar is its opposite nature: when you heat it up, it hardens, but when you cool it down, its soft - totally opposite reactions to temperature than, say, water (that would freeze at a low temperature, and melt at a high one). Sugar binds with water, which is awesome to prevent crystallization in ice cream, and keeps cookies from going soggy after a while. Also, sugar is great at balancing flavour and acidity, when used sparingly (for example, added to tomato sauce or salad dressings).
The most obvious recipe with sugar is candy, so I tried out some candied orange peel for this section.
The main technique here in making candied orange peel is simmering. The orange peels need to be simmered in the sugar and water mixture to absorb the sweetness of the sugar, soften the peels, and glaze the peels in the sugar.
Something I learned in this recipe was the technique of blanching. I blanched the orange peels to remove some of the bitter taste so that the orange peels taste better. I had never done this before, but it turned out very successfully and the candied orange peels tasted great.
Ingredients:
1 orange
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
Directions:
From the top of the orange, make four cuts through the peel just to the flesh using a paring knife. Remove peel carefully, so that it doesn't tear.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Blanch the peels for 60 seconds. Remove them with a strainer and run under cold water.
(Optional: Blanch another few times to continue to remove the bitter flavour from the peels.)
Combine peels, sugar, and water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce to low and cook until the peels are saturated with syrup (about 1 hour).
Spread the peels on a rack and dry overnight.
Finish as desired (dipped in chocolate, rolled in sugar).
#4 - BUTTER
Typically not known for health benefits, but crucial to most baked goods, like croissants, or cakes. Butter is a great shortener in baking, and when browned it adds enhanced flavour to cooking, and it also is a great thickener in sauces, and helps preserves foods for longer periods of time.
To learn about the impact butter has on cooking, I made some browned butter mashed potatoes!
The main technique used in this recipe is browning butter. In order to properly brown your butter, you need to melt it and keep it over the heat for a few minutes. The water content in your butter will evaporate, and the solid butter particles will turn golden brown. Browned butter has more flavour and adds a different dimension of taste to your cooking.
Ingredients:
1/2 pound (225g) potatoes (russet, baking, or Yukon gold), peeled and cut into large chunks
1/4 C. milk
Kosher salt
40g butter
Directions:
Over high heat, bring potatoes to a simmer in a saucepan with enough water to cover the potatoes.
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook potatoes until tender throughout (about 20min).
Drain and set aside.
Combine milk and 2 tsp. salt and heat over medium heat. When the milk is hot, return the potatoes to the pan and mash them using a fork and mix with milk until desired mashed potato consistency is acquired.
In a separate saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. When the foam stops, stir the butter and not the colour of the solids. When the solids are golden brown, add half the butter to the mashed potatoes.
Top with more browned butter.
#5 - SALT
You name it, it's in it: chips, dressings, cookies, chicken... Even though there is never much in it, its still so useful in the kitchen as a seasoning, flavour enhancer, sugar contrast. Adding in a bit of salt to baked goods, especially sweet ones, accents the sweetness and helps the good be more rounded in flavour. Also, using salty ingredients (think salty cheese, or fish sauce) can add in the salt factor without adding salt itself to the dish. Using coarse salt is best because it's easier to control amounts with you fingers than small-grain table salt.
A recipe I'm trying with an emphasis on the salt flavour is pork schnitzel!
A main technique in this recipe is salting throughout the cooking process. It's important to salt the pork chop before you bread it, salt the crumbs, salt it after, and salt the broccoli too. Salting throughout adds more flavour to the dish once it's finished, and it doesn't taste like a mouthful of salt like it would if you only salted the meat at the end.
Something I learned from this recipe was using lemon! And not just lemon juice squeezed in. I seared the lemon slices themselves in butter, and they tasted so good. I wouldn't have expected eating lemon slices with a dish as an actual thing. As a kid, I used to eat the lemon slices they served with your glass of water at restaurants (weird, right?) but I didn't think searing them and serving them as prominently as they were used in this recipe was possible, and they tasted great.
Here's the recipe for you to enjoy:
Ingredients:
2 small boneless pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick)
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1/4-1/3 C. panko bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp. salted butter
1/2 lemon, sliced
1/4-1/2 head of broccoli, divided into florets
Directions:
Season pork with salt and pepper.
In a shallow medium bowl, combine panko, paprika, pinch of salt and pepper.
Bread pork chops one at a time: press the pork into the panko, and use your first to press the crumbs into the pork.
Heat olive oil in large pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add both chips and cook until deep golden brown (about 3-4mins). Flip and cook other side.
Remove from pan and drain oil on paper towel.
(Optional: Wipe pan clean, keeping element on, and add schnitzel back into the pan. Add apple cider vinegar and let schnitzel soak until the vinegar has evaporated. Remove from pan.)
Sear lemon and butter in pan, until lemon is golden on both sides, about 1min per side. Remove from pan.
Place broccoli in pan, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until charred on the edges and tender (about 5min). Remove from pan.
Plate pork chops, lemon slices, and broccoli together.
Notes:
I used gluten-free panko breadcrumbs, and they started to fall off when I put them in the pan with the apple cider vinegar. It will work fine with wheat breadcrumbs, or with gluten-free ones you could just put a few drops of vinegar on top of the chops, or remove the chops quickly from the pan instead of waiting for the vinegar to evaporate.
#6 - Poaching
Okay, so this one isn't an ingredient, but its a great way to cook tender foods. Typical poached foods include fish, eggs, sausages, seafood, and legumes. Usually, poaching is done with water or fat, and can sometimes also use aromatics to season the food as you poach it.
Today I tried a ginger garlic soup with a poached egg in it!
The main technique used in this recipe is poaching. The egg is poached and then added to the rest of the soup. When poaching, remember to use a spoon to try to keep the egg together while it is poaching, and drop the egg in gently so that it doesn't break apart. I tested swirling the water before adding the egg to try and help the egg keep it's round shape, and it did work. However, it is important to remember to use enough water when poaching, and to use gentle heat. If it's boiling, its too hot.
Something I learned in this recipe was to poach the egg separately from the soup. I tried to poach the egg right in the soup, but it didn't have enough liquid to properly poach, and the veggies in the soup caused the egg to break apart and result in a scrambled egg in the soup, rather than a properly poached egg.
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 slices fresh ginger (1/2 inch thick)
1 clove garlic, very thinly sliced
2 C. chicken broth
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
4 ounces bok choy or Napa cabbage
1 egg
Directions:
Heat the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering.
Add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is just golden-brown around the edges, around 1min.
Carefully add the broth and soy sauce (it may sputter) and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, trim the stem ends from the bok choy or cabbage. If using Napa cabbage or large bok choy, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces.
Add the bok choy or cabbage to the boiling soup, stir to combine, and bring back to a boil.
In a separate pot, poach egg: crack the egg into a small bowl. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then reduce heat to low. When all the bubbling stops, add the egg. Cook just long enough for the egg white to congeal (about 3-4 min). Remove egg from water and drain well.
Add to soup and serve!
Have a great weekend, and happy cooking!
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