Recipe-Free Cooking: Improvisation in the Kitchen

The Three Basic Rules of Recipe-Free Cooking

2006-10-07T12:31:00.000-04:00

Have you ever asked your grandmother or your mom or another older relative for a recipe to a favorite dish and gotten the answer, "Hmmm. Let me see. I'll have to see if I remember how I do that..."? Or have they told you, "I can't possibly explain; you'll just have to help me make it next time"? If you've heard these words or close variations, chances are you were talking to a "recipe-free" cook.

Wusthof 6-in. Culinar Chef's Knife

A recipe-free cook is a genius in the kitchen. He or she can assemble a great meal out of the materials at hand and often manages to do it quickly, easily and without seeming to think too hard about what seasonings to use, how much of this or that goes into a dish, or what the exact temperature of the stove or oven should be. Some of us were lucky enough to grow up in the homes of recipe-free cooks, and were constantly amazed at the way they used to recombine the same ingredients again and again, but somehow placed before us a unique and tasty meal that might resemble but was never exactly the same as what we'd eaten before.

World Cuisine Chef's Knife 14''

The resourcefulness and creativity required to become a recipe-free cook are not as hard to learn as you may think. The ability to improvise successfully in the kitchen can be gained by mastering a distinct set of principles and practices that can be applied to cooking under virtually any circumstance, from a well-equipped modern kitchen to a wood-fire in the wilderness. An understanding of the roles of different ingredients, the taste spectrum of spice groups, and some basic cooking techniques can expand your horizon far beyond the pages of a cookbook, into the realm of culinary adventure. The time you take to learn these basics of recipe-free cooking will be far better spent than the time taken to memorize a recipe and you'll never be at a loss when the unexpected happens in the kitchen.

Here are the three most important components of recipe-free cooking:

Know your ingredients

Calphalon 10-pc. Tri-ply Copper Cookware Set

Recipe-free cooks understand that there are food "families"; categories of ingredients that can be used interchangeably to achieve similar effects. There are ingredients that provide texture (thinners, thickeners, coarseners and smoothers); ingredients that provide flavor (strong tastes--spices--or unique and specific tastes--for example, duck, oysters, mushrooms); ingredients that provide bulk (anything that adds substance to a dish, from cabbage to rice to chop meat, to flour); ingredients that stimulate the receptors in our taste buds (sweet, sour, salty, bitter); and ingredients that cause specific chemical reactions (baking soda and powder, yeast, gelatine). Many ingredients fall into multiple categories; for example eggs can add bulk (to a quiche or omelette) and be an important part of a chemical reaction (in breads), and be a smoother and thickener (in puddings or sauces).

Calphalon 8 Piece Set

A recipe-free cook doesn't need to know the specific qualities of every ingredient -- just the ones he or she uses more often. Understanding the properties of the tomato opens a world of possibilities, for it can be turned into sauces, soups, or stews; sliced and served fresh or dressed; or, dried to intensify its flavor. Lightly cooked or raw tomatoes can be pureed to thin a dish, or they can be cooked and reduced to thicken. Diced into chunks they give a dish one texture, and liquified they give a dish another. If you know the potential of an ingredient it can turn one food item into dozens of cooking possibilities.

Know your flavors

Spices are almost as old as humankind, dating back at least 50,000 years. Flavor groups evolved geographically as people explored the properties of locally available plants. New spices were introduced as trade routes developed, populations relocated, and nations colonized and conquered. The spices associated with particular cuisines are the result of history and circumstance. Long before we imagined the modern global economy, spices like cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon, and pepper circumnavigated the globe with explorers, travelers, and traders, becoming integral parts of cuisines in lands far from the point of origination.

Recipe-free cooks understand that a spice group is like a color palette and learn to combine spices to match the "flavor hues" of their favorite ethnic cuisines. For example, a Mexican spice palette could include achiote, annatto, chiles, cilantro, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, garlic, onion, oregano, and tarragon. Greek food also might feature chiles, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, garlic, onion, and oregano, but diverges at that point, substituting allspice, anise, cardamom, cloves, curry leaf, ginger, mustard, nutmeg, olive and sumac for the rest of the "Mexican" ingredients. All cultures have their spice palettes, and a simple shift of two or three flavors can take our taste buds halfway around the world.

Know your techniques

To become recipe-free, a chef must understand the difference between a variety of different cooking techniques. As with spicing, to single cook must know all the techniques, but all cooks must know several techniques in order to vary the menu and open a myriad of possibilities for their end results. The exact same ingredients grilled, roasted, fried, sauted, boiled or braised will come out very differently. Think of the difference between fried chicken and chicken soup; between roasted potatoes and potatoes boiled and mashed; between grilled vegetables and those pan-sauteed in butter.

Your choice of cooking technique will determine, in large part, the texture of the dish as well as its taste. If you brown onions, garlic and meat before adding them to broth the end result will be very different than if you add them all raw to a stock and boil them together. In the first case the flavors will remain distinct, with a hint of toasting from the browning. In the second case the flavors will blend smoothly. Each is desirable under the correct circumstances. A recipe-free cook knows how to determine which method is right for the occasion.

As an exercise to expand your recipe-free skills, assemble your ten favorite ingredients and five favorite spices. See how many different dishes and combinations you can create. Be adventurous. Experiment! You'll be amazed and how easy it is to achieve excellent results with improvisation.

To further explore the recipe-cooking process, visit Recipe-Free Cooking and read the subject guides or try the exercises.

Recipe-Free Guide to Roasting Chicken, Ducks & Turkeys

2006-10-07T08:53:00.000-04:00

Roasting is one of the easiest and most under-used techniques available to the modern cook. It's so simple that I do it at least once a week, especially when I'm pressed for time or when I need a quick meal that will generate a lot of leftovers for snacks and lunches.

The theory of roasting is simple: the seasoned bird is placed whole in the oven and left to cook, uncovered, until it is done. There are some arguments about whether you should set the oven at a moderate temperature and leave it, or brown the skin at a higher temperature and then turn the heat down. Some people also baste (pour liquid over) their roasts periodically. But really, that's all there is to it.

Choosing the Bird

You can roast virtually any bird whole. Your choice will depend on a combination of taste, time, money and the amount of food you need to make. From the teeniest of quails to the hugest of turkeys, the process of choosing, cleaning and preparing the bird to roast is exactly the same.

Poultry must always be as fresh as possible, and cooked within a day or two of purchase. Fresh birds are better than frozen. I use organically raised and prepared fowl. I think they taste better, but your mileage may vary.

Large Stainless Steel Roasting Pan 20L x 12 and three quartersW

Domestic turkeys, chickens, cornish game hens and quail are all sweet, mild meats, bred to be less fatty and less "gamey" tasting than their wild brethren. Wild birds, domestic ducks and geese are all stronger tasting. Ducks are fatty and geese are even more so. To keep the skin crisp it's best to slice the very fatty parts open with a knife (try not to cut down into the meat of the bird), creating a channel through which the liquified fat will drain as the bird heats up.

All birds should be thoroughly washed before roasting, and any packages of innards or sauce removed from the cavity. (Often the livers and neck are included inside the bird.) You can toss out the innards or you can use them in another dish.

Brining (Optional)

You may or may not choose to brine your bird before serving. I do it with turkey, but not with anything smaller. The process calls for filling your sink or other large container with cold water and pouring in a cup of table salt (2 cups of coarse kosher salt) per gallon water for 4-8 hours. (You can leave the bird in the salt bath overnight if you like, but cut the amount of salt in half.)

Wusthof 10-in. Gourmet Roast Beef Slicer, Hollow Edge

A similar effect is achieved by "koshering" (the traditional Jewish process for preparing turkey, although strictly speaking no bird is kosher unless it has both been prepared traditionally and blessed by a rabbi). To kosher your turkey soak it in unsalted cold water for about thirty minutes. Then crust it with coarse kosher salt and let it sit on an incline for between 1-2 hours; a cutting board propped to drain into the sink works fine. When the time is up, rinse it thoroughly with cold water at three or four time. I find brining works just as well as koshering for tenderizing, and it is a lot easier to do.

If you have the time and the inclination you can air dry your bird before putting it in the oven. It makes the skin crispier. But only do this with brined or koshered birds. Let it dry uncovered in the refrigerator or out on the counter as you let it come to room temperature.

Trussing (Optional)

Trussing is tying up the limbs of the bird so that they lie close to the body. This prevents the limbs from burning or overcooking. It's necessary only for large birds, in my opinion. Use only natural-color cotton kitchen string. Accidentally using a synthetic string causes disaster both for your kitchen (it smells awful) and for your health (it's poisonous).

Seasoning

This is the creative part of roasting. I won't go into a detailed explanation of seasoning here because I focus on it in other articles, but here are the basics. You can choose between two ways of seasoning your bird -- dry and wet. A dry seasoning is called a "rub" and is rubbed into the skin and cavities of the bird before it goes in the oven. A wet seasoning is usually a fairly thick sauce that gets poured or smeared over the skin and cavities. A dry roast should be rubbed with oil or butter before being season. A wet seasoning should contain some sort of oil. The oil will help to keep the meat of the bird moist while it cooks.

Personally I prefer dry seasonings for roasting, mainly because wet seasonings often require basting and I like just to put the bird in the oven and forget about it until the timer goes off. In either case the seasoning should contain only ingredients that do not burn at the temperature at which the oven will be set (usually 350 degree Farenheit). There is nothing worse than finding your sauce has burned and ruined the flavor of the meat. (Teriyaki and soy sauce are particularly known for this.)

Combine spices that work well together. You can flavor your bird to match any kind of cuisine, from Mexican to Chinese. For ideas about seasoning, visit the Guide to Spicing. Be creative. Or be simple. Plain salt and pepper tastes remarkably good on a well-roasted bird and the cooked meat can always be covered with sauce later, before serving.

Heating the Oven

Preheating is essential when you're going to roast. For most small birds I just set it at 350 F and leave it there. For larger birds like geese and turkey, I like to set the temperature to 425 for 12-20 minutes and let the skin on the back brown, then flip the bird over, turn the heat down to 350 and leave it there the rest of the time. You'll hear a lot of argument about how long a bird should stay in the oven.

I think that most of the disagreement stems from the fact that one's oven temperature gauge does not often match the actual temperature inside one's oven. If you cook a lot you should have an oven thermometer and you should be aware of how far off your gauges are. Compensate if your oven runs hot or cold and really try to make sure the temperature inside the oven is within a few degrees of 350 F. If you don't have a thermometer and you know your oven is off, you'll just have to play it by ear (recommendations on how to do that will follow).

Cooking Time

There are some real disagreements over the proper cooking time. I don't worry much about how long I'm cooking a bird if it's been properly oiled and seasoned. I count on about 90 minutes for an average 5 pound chicken, and 90 minutes for an 8 pound duck, and about 4-4.5 hours for a 20-25 pound turkey. The only bird I use a meat thermometer on is a large turkey. The temperature of the middle of the breast meat should be over 160 before you remove it from the oven, but it doesn't have to be much over it.

A turkey is also the only bird I roast at two different temperatures, or that I turn over. I roast it face down at 425 F in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Then I take it out (carefully) and flip it over and put it back in the oven, turning the heat down to 350 for the rest of the time it's cooking.

Basting

I gave up basting birds years ago, since I like to keep things simple. If I want a wet sauce I tend to braise instead of roast. But if you feel compelled to baste, keep it to a minimum of once every 15 minutes for the first hour, and once every half hour thereafter. You can stop basting when the skin on the bird has turned brown since it doesn't do any good after that point anyway.

The Pan I used to use a regular roasting pan. My favorite are All Clad or similar brands because they clean so easily. It's important, in roasting, to lift the bird up above the area where the fat drains. Roasting pans have wire trays inset especially for that purpose. I still use traditional roasting pans for turkeys but a Russian friend taught me a trick that I now use every time I roast chickens or ducks.

Depending on the size of the chicken or duck, I use either a beer bottle or a wine bottle set upright in a pan. Usually I use an oven-tempered glass casserole dish (the large lasagne-size can hold two chickens). When the bottle is standing upright, lift up the bird. Slide the bird, with its legs pointing down, over the bottle neck. It should balance there, with the drumsticks and tail barely touching the pan. Cooking them in this upright position also has the advantage of exposing more of the skin to the air, so it is crispier.

Use only beer or wine bottles, since other glass bottles are not thick enough to withstand the heat of the oven.

Whatever pan or method you use, make sure that the bird is lifted above the surface where the fat drains or you will have fat-soaked pieces of bird sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.

How Do I Know It's Done?

You can go by the temperature thermometer, but don't open and close the oven door too often to check how it's progressing. Every time you do that the heat in the oven fluctuates and you slow down the cooking process. If you have a modern oven, the oven runs a lot hotter to bring itself back up to the proper temperature quickly -- this is not good for the bird either. So be patient and check only when you really need to.

Trust your eyes more than your thermometer when checking for doneness, since thermometers aren't always accurate. A bird is done when its juice runs clear (not red) after you poke a hole in it. Again, you want to keep this sort of checking to a minimum since the clear juice is tastier inside your bird than out of it. You also know your bird is done when its extremities (drumsticks, wings) rotate easily in their sockets. This change takes place when the cartilage holding the bones together softens. If the wing or leg falls off, you know you've overdone it.

Fatty birds need to be more well done than lean ones, so it's okay to cook your duck or your goose until the wings are quite loose.

Resting the Bird

When your bird is finished, take it out of the oven and let it cool, untouched, for 15-30 minutes depending on its size. This is an important step, so don't skip it. Your bird will taste a lot better if you let the juices redistribute themselves without disturbance. If you skip this step and carve immediately you'll end up with a drier, less tasty bird.

And that's all there is to roasting. It is actually more time-consuming to explain than to do. While I was writing this article I roasted two ducks. I spent approximately 15 minutes getting them ready to go into the oven. I checked the temperature once as I wrote. A few minutes ago I removed them to cool. And about fifteen minutes from now, after I proofread, I'll go carve them up.

The History of Spices

2006-10-07T07:14:00.000-04:00

Spices appear to have been used as far back as there were human civilizations. Rather than repeating the oft-told tales of the spice trade I'd like to point you to several interesting resources. Here are my favorite books about the history of spices:

There are also some excellent online resources:

The first is The American Spice Trade Association's" historical chronology, which starts in 50,000 BC and continues the chronicle up to the present day.

You can read about the connection between spices and modernity (the Modern Age) in a book excerpt from Tastes of Paradise: A Social History of Spieces, Stimulants, and Intoxicants, by Wolfgang Shivelbusch.

The importance of the spice trade is underlined by an article in the The Economist called, "The Spice Trade, A Taste of Adventure".

The history of pepper, one of the world' most important spices can be found in Pepper: The King of Spices

For more information about spices, visit The Recipe-Free Guide To Spices

What Is A Spice?

2006-10-06T13:40:00.000-04:00

A spice is a vegetable product with strong aromatic flavor that can be added to food to add taste and/or to preserve the food.

People often confuse the words "spice" and "herb." They are related but not exactly the same. Herb plants are used for cooking or for medicine. They can be wild or domestic. The term "herb" refers to the whole plant, while the term "spice" refers to the products that are made out of the different parts of herbs. Spices can come from the root (ginger), the stalk (lemon grass), the leaves (bay), the flowers (jasmine), or the seeds (sesame) of a plant.

The Recipe-Free Guide To Spices defines a spice as a single flavor. This allows us to consider alcohol mixtures (like vanilla extract) or oil mixtures (like chili oil) as spices because they don't change the flavor of the spice; they simply preserve it.

Spices can (and should!) be mixed to form flavor groups as in, for example, Indian curry powder, Mexican "Taco Spices", and Chinese Five Spice Powder. Mixtures of spices that served on the side of a dish rather than in it (and are often mixed with wet ingredients) are called "condiments."

We can't, by any means, detail every spice and its uses. For that you'll have to visit a variety of outside references. We suggest the following books as useful kitchen guides to spices:

If you count all the regional varieties, there really are no complete lists of herbs and spices, but if you want to get started exploring spices you can visit Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages, Wikipedia's List of herbs and spices. Another great place to look for information about spices and herbs is in seed catalogs, such as the one found at Cook's Garden.

You might consider growing your own herbs and spices. Not all will grow locally, but many do very well in a sunny windowsill. Favorite herbs to grow at home include basil, rosemary, marjoram, oregano, chervil, dill, parsley, cilantro, sage, garlic and thyme. All of these are much tastier fresh than dried. You will be surprised at how many sub-species of basil and sage there are. Try growing cinnamon basil or pineapple sage for fun!

For more information about cooking with spices, return to the Recipe-Free Guide To Spicing Food

Cooking With Spices: First Recipes and Exercises #1

2006-10-04T11:07:00.000-04:00

Learning to use a range of spices makes cooking easier, faster and simpler. You can introduce new spices in small amounts and gradually add more as you become familiar with them and grow to like a spice's taste. Of course you won't like all the spices you try, but you may be surprised at how many of them taste good if you give them a chance.

Spice Grinder with Removable Lid

A basic rule is that every cuisine has its now "constellation" of spices. One reason Italian food tastes "Italian," and Indian food tastes "Indian" is that they are differently spiced, despite the fact that the main ingredients are the same. Let's take a rice, chicken, and tomato dish as an example. (You can try this experiment in your own kitchen at home.)

Here are the ingredients you need:

1. About a pound of boneless chicken cut up in pieces (dark meat or light, whichever you prefer). 2. A medium size onion chopped finely. 3. 2 cups of the rice of your choice, cooked in advance (keep it warm on the stove). 4. 1 clove garlic, chopped finely. 5. 2 medium sized ripe tomatoes dice to 1/2 inch. 6. 3 T of olive oil 7. 3 T cup of clarified butter or ghee (to clarify butter melt it over a gentle heat and then skim the white off the top). 8. 1 tablespoon curry powder (curry powder comes in hot, medium and mild -- choose the one you prefer) 9. 1 teaspoon dried oregano 10. 1 teaspoon dried marjoram 11. 1 teaspoon dried basil 12. Salt and pepper. 13. 1/2 cup dry white wine or water.

You can always substitute fresh spices for dried, but use slightly smaller amounts since the fresh spices are more pungent. You will need two small saucepans for the experiment. I suggest you make these dishes one at a time, rather than splitting your attention and trying to cook both at once.

Villeroy & Boch Home Elements Mortar with Pestle

Let's try the Italian dish first.

Pour the olive oil into the bottom of your saucepan. Turn on the heat to medium. Let the oil warm slightly and put in 1/2 of the portion of onions. Cook the onions until they are transparent (anywhere from 5-10 minutes). Then add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. The garlic can turn golden, but don't let it turn brown or black. When the garlic is golden, add 1/2 of the portion of chopped tomatoes. Cook, stirring, until the tomatoes begin to melt into the onions and garlic. Turn the heat up slightly (still careful not to burn the garlic) and add 1/2 of the portion of raw chicken. Once the chicken begins to cook in the pan, add the 1/2 cup of wine. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer. Now add the oregano, marjoram and basil. You will notice that the smell of Italian cooking fills the kitchen. Cook the entire mixture at a simmer for 10 more minutes and then serve it over half of the warm rice. Mmmmm.... Italian food!

Now let's try the Indian dish.

The process starts out exactly the same, except we're going to use the clarified butter instead of the olive oil. Add the rest of the onions, cook as above, and then add the garlic. It's at this point we do something different. As the garlic is turning golden, add the curry powder and cook it along with the garlic and onions for a couple of minutes. The kitchen will fill with the smell of Indian food. Add the tomatoes and saute, stirring, until they start to melt into the onion, garlic and spice mixture. At that point, turn up the heat slightly, pour in 1/2 cup of water and add the chicken, stirring until the mixture boils. Then turn the heat down and simmer for another 10 minutes. When it's done, pour the mixture over the rice and taste. What a difference!

Curry powder, by the way, is made from mixing different spices. Curry powder often includes a combination of turmeric, cumin, fennel, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, hot pepper, and nutmeg, among others. You can learn to mix your own curry powder to taste, though there are a variety of commercial brands available.

If you decide you want to try either of these dishes in larger amounts I have one more suggestion. For Italian food, use a short-grained rice, and for Indian food, use a long-grain rice (like Basmati). Different kinds of rice taste very different. But that's another article...

You can flavor meats and vegetables other than chicken using the same techniques. Try the Italian method on beef, pork, or a white fish. The Indian method is excellent with lamb or vegetables like cauliflower, peas, or spinach.

That's how easy it is to make two totally different meals out of almost the same ingredients.

For more information about improvisational cooking with spices, visit A Guide To Spicing Food.

The Humble Onion

2006-10-04T11:05:00.000-04:00

A good cook knows what ingredients to combine into a delicious meal. This short article in the "Ingredients" series focuses on the humble and ubiquitous onion. Virtually every cuisine uses the onion or onion variant as a basic flavoring. In fact, Julia Child once said, "It is hard to imagine a civilization without onions."

Here we'll take a look at what kinds of onions there are, their different tastes and qualities, and the different uses to which onions can be put. When you're done reading you'll feel a lot more confident going to the market and selecting onions, cooking with onions and creating recipes with onions as an ingredient.

What's an onion?

The Latin name for onion is "Allium cepa." It's related to other edible Allium species: leeks (Allium ampeloprasum or porrum); shallots (Allium ascalonicum); garlic (Allium sativum); and, chives (Allium schoenoprasum), among others. You may immediately recognize some common characteristics: they all have bulbs, are layered, and taste quite strongly. If you're a gardener, you know that they grow tall and thin, that there is one flower to a stalk, and that they reproduce by budding off the bulb.

When you go to the market you may notice that there are several types of onion available. In North America the most common are the yellow onion, the white onion, and the red onion. You may also find small white pearl onions or Walla Walla sweet onions. Because onions are a foundation spice in many areas of the world, people have cultivated sub-species of the common garden onion, often named for where they come from. These different species have different flavors and uses and we'll cover those below.

You can find an excellent resource on the history of onions in general and sweet onions in particular at Peggy Trowbridge's About.com site, "Sweet Onion History." The history of the onion is fascinating, but not the subject of this article. Here we're more concerned with choosing, storing and cooking with onions.

How to pick and store an onion

Onions should be firm and solid, heavy to the hand. There should be no soft or mushy parts. The "parchment" layer of thin skin should cover the whole onion, but not descend through more than one or two thin layers towards the heart. It's said that the perfect onion has 13 rings, but of course you can't count them in the grocery store.

Onions keep for a very long time if they are stored in cool, dark, dry places. If they are stored wet, however, they are prone to become moldy. Don't buy onions that have mold on them (the mold can be dry and powdery, or, if the onion is very wet, it can be smeary like algae. If you find mold on an onion you store at home, quickly remove it from other onions and check them for mold. If it's a small spot of mold you can cut it away, but if there is a large area of mold or if the onion is soft you should dispose of it in the compost heap or the garbage. When onions begin to sprout they are still edible, but they lose some of their flavor. When the sprouts grow large they suck moisture from the bulb and the onion changes texture and taste for the worse. The drier you keep them, the less likely they will sprout.

Onions labeled "Sweet" do not store as well as other onions, and are usually only available seasonally. They are mild and, as their name suggests, taste sweeter than more common onions. Use these soon after you buy them.

Onions come in sizes from small to large. I recommend that you consider how much onion you will actually use at a time. If you need small amounts of onion to flavor dishes, buy smaller onions. If you're making sauce and need a lot of onion, go big. Just remember that cut and peeled onions are difficult to store properly. They can dry out, get mouldy and, if not kept in air-tight containers, make your whole refrigerator and/or kitchen smell like onion. An onion is considered "super-colossal" if it is 4.5" in diameter or larger.

Raw onions

The best onions for eating raw are Sweet Onions. Varieties of Sweet Onion are usually only available April-August, depending on the region you live in.

Raw onions are primarily used as flavoring and to add crunchy texture to cold or hot foods. They can be chopped for salads, sliced for sandwiches, and pureed for dressings or sauces. They can also be eaten plain: Russians love to eat raw white onion with their black rye bread; a favorite combination is to take a shot of good vodka, bite into an onion, and follow it with a piece of the bread. (Repeat as necessary.) Onions can also be marinated and pickled in a variety of ways.

When using raw onions, it is particularly important to pay attention to the flavor and strength of the particular onion you are using. Peeling them under running water can help to cut the fumes, but the best method I've found for very sensitive people is to wear a pair of swimming goggles. Really; I'm not kidding.

How strong is your onion?

Though you might buy the same brand of onion from the market again and again, one time the flavor will be strong and the fumes so powerful they burn your eyes, and another time they will be mild and almost fume-free. Onion strength within the same species vary depending upon the time of year they are grown, the conditions under which they are grown, their age at the time of harvesting, how long they have been stored, the quality of the soil, and the amount of water they recieve. It's important to remember this when you are cooking and to taste the particular onions you have chosen for your meal. "A cup of chopped onion" is simply a bulk measurement and doesn't tell you anything about flavor. If your onions are very strong, use fewer. If they are weak and mild, you can use more. Except when you are baking, regard recipes as guidelines to use in your cooking: amounts and proportions are rarely absolute.

Different kinds of onions

Yellow Onions comprise about 70 percent of the onions available in supermarkets. They are easier to grow than red or white onions, have tougher skin and are not prone to showing the green streaks (from late harvest rains) or the sunburn that white onions can suffer. Yellow Onions can be strong or mild depending on the factors discussed above.

White onions grow very large and are more tender than Yellow Onions. Like yellow onions, they vary a great deal in strength, pungency and fume emission. They are very popular for Mexican and Latin American cooking as they tend to be tangier and more crisp tasting than Yellow Onions. They are very susceptible to mold, but store for a long time if kept very dry.

Red Onions grow to a smaller size than Yellow Onions. They are also often milder and sweeter, with a distinctive taste and texture. One variety of red onion is the Bermuda, which usually shows up in supermarkets in the spring.

Yellow Granax (sweet onions, called Vidalia when grown around Vidalia, Georgia and called Maui Onion when grown on that island in Hawaii). The Cippolini is an Italian sweet onion. Other varieties include Sweet Imperial, Carzalia Sweet, Oso, Arizona, and the strangely named Texas 1015Y. Remember these are hard to store.

Walla Walla Onion (called Walla Walla Sweets when grown around Walla Walla, Washington). This onion originated in Corsica and was brought to Washington by immigrants.

Pearl Onions (also called Boiling Onions) are small white onions under 2" in diameter. They are difficult to peel, but they are a lovely addition to soups and stews, and they are a joy to pickle. They are rarely eaten raw.

Dried Onions and Preserved Fried Onions

Dried onions are never as good as fresh. Use dried minced onion as a substitute for fresh only when absolutely necessary. Personally, I stay away from onion powder entirely.

Preserved fried (crispy) onions are often used to garnish finished dishes and can be purchased in many Asian food markets.

Cooking With Onions

Onions should always be cooked at medium or lower heat because they change their taste and become bitter if cooked too hot. Onions can be cooked into six different forms:

1) Transparent:

If you cook an onion for a medium- to long-period of time over a low heat they will turn soft and transparent. The longer you cook them at this temperature, the softer and less visible they will become. Sauteing onions to transparency is the method often used for introducing them into sauces and stews. Many sauces begin with the instruction to "melt" your onions into some sort of oil, often combined with garlic and tomatoes. When you put raw onions into liquid (like soups and stews) and boil them, you also achieve the state of transparency. In the first case you suffuse the oil with the onion taste. In the second, the onion taste diffuses through the boiling or simmering liquid.

2) Browned:

The taste of browning onions is indeed delectable and can be smelled throughout the house (and even sometimes out onto the street), especially when combined with garlic. Browned onions are sauted over a medium heat just to the point of achieving a golden brown color around the edges. If you overcook the onions and burn them, the smooth, mellow flavor will be replaced by a sharp, bitter, burnt taste, so it is very important to keep a close watch on onions if you are cooking them over a medium heat. Never cook them higher than medium. Browned onions are also used as the basis for sauces or stews, but they impart a very different flavor than transparent onions. The best description I can give is that they have a "toasted" flavor. The flavor suffuses the oil medium in which they are browned and thus anything cooked in that oil will also taste of browned onions.

3) Fried:

If you dip onions in a batter and then drop them hot oil they will fry quickly. Properly fried onions have a crispy batter and reach a soft transparent or semi-transparent state. They must never burn on the outside. You can fry cut up onions (as in Onion Rings) or the whole onion (a popular dish in many steak houses). Fried onions are usually served as garnishes or side dishes.

4) Baked or roasted:

Onions can be put in an oven and baked, either on their own with some sort of sauce (balsamic vinegar and garlic, for example), or as a part of a roasted dish (pot roast, tandoori, roast beef, etc.). Roasted onions may toast lightly on the outside and be soft in the middle, or they may become completely soft and transparent. The end state depends on the amount of moisture in which the dish is cooked.

5) Grilled:

Onions grill very well, but since they burn quickly at high temperatures it's best to add them late to the barbecue grill or skewer. Watch grilled onions carefully to ensure that they brown but do not burn. Grilled onions usually do not cook long enough to be soft in the middle, so they are often toasted and soft on the outer layers, and retain some crunch and bite on the inside. This makes them a particularly lively and tasty accompaniment to strongly flavored dishes like shishkebob.

6) Pickled or marinated:

The most commonly pickled onions are boilers, but large onions can also be pickled if they are cut up. The best pickled onions retain freshness and crunch while merging their flavors with strong pickling spices. Most pickled onions are lightly boiled (less than three minutes) before being put in the preserving liquid. This liquid combines vinegar with other pickling spices. If you arepickling for storage make sure to follow safe canning rules. Unlike most of the recipes I discuss, pickling is a delicate procedure and proportions of preserving liquid need to be measure carefully. For a great guide see Clemson Universities "Pickle Basics."

Marinated onion dishes should be used within a week. Often the same spices are used for marination as for pickling, but the proportions and procedure are not so important since the pickled will not be canned and stored.

Summary

Most good cooks have onions on hand since they use them in many dishes and storage onions (non-sweet) keep for long periods of time. Learn to distinguish varieties of onion by tasting them and using them in your cooking experiments. A properly-used onion can ring flavor and taste out of scant ingredients. If you don't feel like cooking, you can simply contemplate the onion. It inspires deep thoughts, or at least it did in Carl Sandburg, the famous American poet. Sandburg wrote: "Life is like an onion: you peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep."

Southern Fried Chicken: The Rap Video

2006-10-03T13:50:00.000-04:00

You can watch a graphic demonstration of chicken frying and celebratory eating on YouTube. Perhaps this tongue-in-cheek spoof will get you thinking about how good fried chicken really is, and how easy to make! If you want to try your hand at making your own Southern Fried Chicken check out Shawn Scott's Guide.

A Guide To Spicing Food: Introduction

2006-10-02T03:12:00.000-04:00

Fill out the spice survey at the test at the top of the page and tell us what flavors you like, then check your score and find out if your spices are the most popular!

Most cooks have a few spices in their cupboard. Often these are the flavorings that you've tasted and used all your life. Many spices are an acquired taste and are "too strong" when we try them for the first time, or even "too strange." Some spices can even be unpleasant if we don't have a tolerance for them, like hot chile peppers or Japanese horseradish mustard (wasabi).

Revolving Spice Rack - 20 Spices

It's a rare cook who has a full range of spices, knows their taste, and can season dishes appropriately for family or company. This will explain how to properly "acquire a taste" for spices, and how to mix and match them in ways that can make surprising positive changes in the way your food tastes. Different spices can make the exact same ingredients taste like a completely different dish, so using spices will greatly enhace the breadth of your cooking repertory and liven up a rotating menu.

Many cooks avoid trying new spices because they are afraid it's difficult to cook with them. Far from it! Spices make cooking simpler, easier and faster. And you can introduce them in small amounts and gradually increase the portion as you become familiar with and grow to like a spice's taste. You won't like all the spices you try, but I guarantee you will like most of them if you give them a chance.

This easy guide serves as a tutorial about spices and how to use them in your everyday cooking, and for preparing special meals. The following guides are available or in production. The lessons on "Cooking With Spices" include specific spice combinations and recipes. Each one will enrich your cooking knowledge and expand your abilities. Follow along every week and you will amaze family, friends and co-workers — whoever you decide to feed.

What Is A Spice?
History of Spices
Spice Basics: Must-Haves For Your Kitchen
Cooking With Spices: First Recipes and Exercises #1
Spices and Cuisines: An Overview
First Recipes and Exercises To Vary Cuisine
Regional Spicing
- Mexican Spices and Variations
- Beyond Mexican Spices Into Latin America
- Spices in Spain and Portugal (including Catalan)
- Southeast Asian Spices (Thai, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, Malaysian)
- Chinese Spices (Mandarin, Cantonese, Hong Kong, Szechuan, Hunan, Yunnan)
- Japanese Spices
- Mongolian Spices
- South Asian Spices (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh)
- Middle Eastern Spices
- African Spices
- Mediterranean Spices: Italy, Greece,
- French Spices (including Provencal)
- German, Austrian, and Swiss Spices
- Eastern European and Russian Spices
- North American Spices
- Caribbean Spices
- British and Irish Spices
- Scandinavian Spices
- Balkans

Fried Chicken

2006-10-01T06:30:00.000-04:00

Good fried chicken is often considered the test of a good home-style cook. Once you read this, you'll be able to make delicious fried chicken with whatever you currently have in your kitchen cupboards. And you'll be able to do it without measuring and following recipes! This is more than a recipe for deep-fried chicken; it's a theory manual.

There are five simple steps for making fried chicken (and one is optional).

The Chicken

The first thing you need, of course, is the chicken. Make sure your chicken is as fresh as possible. Check the expiration date and make sure to wash it well when you take it out of the packaging. If you defrost frozen chicken be sure to fry it within 24 hours of defrosting. Refrigerate chicken until one hour before you are ready to fry it. Remember: always fry chicken at room temperature. This will help you avoid raw spots in the middle of the chicken and overcooking on the outside.

The Marinade (Optional)

You do not have to marinate, but they often add tremendously to the taste of the chicken. You can marinate chicken in almost any edible liquid and you don't have to measure amounts. Make sure to match the flavor of your marinade with the flavor of your seasonings (see below, under SEASONINGS). If you want classic Southern Fried Chicken taste, marinate in milk. If you want an Asian flavor, marinate in teriyaki or soy sauce. If you want an exotic Indian flavor to your chicken, marinate in a mixture of milk and curry powder. If you're looking for Mexican flavor marinate in your favorite salsa, with or without hot chilis. Be creative; you can add wine, honey, vinegar, or just about anything else you like to the mix.

The Oil

You need to deep-fry the chicken in some kind of oil. My favorites are shortening, canola oil or ghee (either vegetarian or butter). Heating the oil properly before cooking is essential. When the oil isn't hot enough the coating will fall off your fried chicken and it will come out very greasy. When the oil is too hot, the chicken will burn. Different kinds of oils can be heated to different temperatures so there is no hard and fast rule for the frying temperature. My suggestion is to get the oil very hot, but not smoking and test it by dropping in a small ball of the BATTER you will use. When you add your fried chicken, make sure to lower it slowly and gently into the oil so it doesn't spatter. If pieces of batter break off during the frying process remove them from the oil as soon as you can; otherwise they will burn and flavor the oil and chicken with a burnt taste. Put the chicken in one piece at a time and make sure no piece is touching another. Fried chicken is often ruined by crowding in the cooking process. Your chicken can't cook evenly if it's all crowded together.

The Batter

Battering fried chicken is a two-part process. First, the skin must be moistened, and then the dry ingredients must be layered over the wet. This is easier than it sounds.

Wet Batter

The usual strategy for moistening chicken and creating a "glue" so that the dry ingredients will stick is to use egg. Simply break some eggs into a bowl and pour in some water, vinegar or milk (depending on your seasonings) to thin the egg out. Use liquid at about a 1:5 ratio with the eggs. Most cooks can just do this by feel, but if you're nervous, after every five eggs add a 1/4 cup of liquid. When you've made up as much egg batter as you think you'll need, pour it into a deep bowl. You'll need to dip the chicken in this before you roll it in the dry ingredients.

Dry Batter

The dry ingredients are the heart of the batter. Again, you have a lot of room for experimentation here. You can use breadcrumbs, matzoh meal, cornmeal, flour (of any kind), or any other sort of meal you like. Into whatever meal you choose, you should mix the spices that you think will go with your marinade in the proportions you think you will like. This can be as simple as salt and pepper (for Southern milk-marinated fried chicken), or as complex as curry powder (for fried chicken with an Indian flavor). For Mexican taste I toss in cumin and a little cayenne. It is best not to use leafy spices like oregano, basic, or marjoram because they burn in the oil. Stick to durable spices ground from seed or dried roots. Add about a quarter teaspoon of baking soda for every 2 cups of dry batter. Mix up the batter so that it is spicier and stronger tasting than you actually like, because the taste will be less strong once you've spread it out on the chicken. Place a heaping pile of the dry batter in a pie pan or other shallow tin.

Now... roll the chicken pieces first in the wet batter and then in the dry batter. If you run low on either batter you can always make more. I always make a lot of the dry batter because I can store it in the freezer to use next time.

Cooking

When your chicken is battered, you are ready to put it in the already hot oil. Cook until the chicken is golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Adjust the heat of the oil if the batter browns too fast or too slowly. Your first couple of pieces of chicken will not be as pretty as all the rest, so don't panic.

You'll know that the chicken is done if the juice runs clear when you remove it from the pan and pierce it with a fork. Set the finished chicken on paper towels and let them drain. Then... eat and enjoy!

Recipes for Salad Dressing

2006-10-01T06:27:00.000-04:00

Salad dressings are very easy to make. This guide will show you how to do it without using a recipe. You'll be amazed at how many different dressings you can make with what's already in your kitchen.

Vinegar and Oil Dressings

These dressings are the simplest (and often the tastiest) of all. With the profusion of oils and vinegars available at most supermarkets, you can craft a "gourmet" dressing with no problem. The most common oil to use for salads is, of course, olive oil but walnut, almond, and other "designer" flavors all have their advantages. For the vinegar, you can choose anything from apple cider, to balsamic, to fruit or spice-flavored, to plain white, depending on your tastes. There's no such thing as the "right" proportion of vinegar to oil. Personally, I use 3:1 vinegar and oil, but if you like the taste of oil more than vinegar, you can vary the amounts at will. If you've chosen a nut oil and a fruit-flavored vinegar, I suggest lightly spicing with with aromatic herbs such as marjoram and tarragon. A little honey can be wonderful in these mixes as well. If you've chosen a classic olive oil and balsamic vinegar combination, then crushed garlic, shallots, minced onions, salt, pepper and oregano or basil go brilliantly together. When I need some creative encouragement I simply go to my favorite ethnic cookbook and look at the oils, vinegars and spices that are used in the main course recipes and combine them into a salad dressing. If you stick to mixing complementary tastes, you can't go wrong. Shake up all the ingredients and pour over your salad.

Fruit Dressings

If you are on a low-fat diet and want to avoid oils, fresh fruit can replace oil in your dressing. Begin with white vinegar, apple cider vinegar or a fruit vinegar and add the fresh fruit of your choice. I use a blender to combine the ingredients. Again, you can be adventurous, but also use your common sense. Apple cider vinegar goes perfectly with mangoes, a small amount of honey, and some raisins. White vinegar, pears and honey mix very well. Oranges and red wine vinegar go great. And balsamic vinegar and fresh strawberries can't be beat! You'd be surprised at how good any of these tastes with garlic, onions, salt, and pepper.

Mustard Dressings

Replace the vinegar with mustard and you're on your way. Chinese mustard is a great match for sesame oil, honey and pineapple in a dressing. Green peppercorn mustard goes beautifully with olive oil and garlic. French's mustard or Grey Poupon can be blended with mango and hot pepper. Again, you can turn to your cookbooks and look for main course recipes that use mustard and just combine the same ingredients in your blender.

Making salad dressing is an art rather than a science. The best way to do it is to know your own tastes and preferences and use them as the basis for experimentation.

What Is Recipe Free Cooking?

2006-10-01T05:24:00.000-04:00

A good cook can follow a recipe, shop for ingredients, and properly prepare a dish. A great cook doesn't need a recipe 95% of the time, uses whatever is handy in the kitchen, and can whip up a terrific meal every time.

This site is created to turn good cooks into great chefs, to give great cooks new ideas, and to simplify the whole process of meal preparation. Each entry in this blog is a mini-lesson for those who want to free themselves from cooking by rote (using "instructions" each time) and open themselves for successful experimentation in the kitchen.

It's hard to memorize a thousand recipes. It's easier to learn how and why food "works" together to create great meals. If you learn the whys and wherefors of cooking, you'll have a thousand recipes for salad dressings, for appetizers, for main courses, for desserts, and for drinks at your fingertips without ever cracking a book. You can be infinitely imaginative and try more tasty combinations that you ever imagined.

And, no, this isn't a site about the "science" of cooking or baking (though you might find some scientific information). There are good books out there about culinary science. This is about the art of cooking and the process of turning you into a creative genius in the kitchen.

Check back frequently for updates to the site and feel free to leave your comments and suggestions. I'm happy to answer questions about any aspect of improvisation in the kitchen.

Links To Great Cooking Sites

2006-09-01T18:30:00.000-04:00

Links List

This is a list of great cooking sites. I'll keep adding new ones as I find them. Check back frequently to see the new listings.

Buy Recipe-Free Gifts!

Visit our CafePress shop and buy Recipe-Free gifts for your favorite cooks. We have apparel, aprons, clocks, coasters, ornaments, tiles, recipe boxes and journals and more!

Legal Seafoods

Legal Sea Foods delivers the highest quality seafood and gourmet gifts available.

Zone Diet

Zone Diet delivers healthy meals to your doorstep!

HomeClick

Premium Kitchen Fixtures and Accessories

Barbecue.com

This is the ultimate website if you want to buy a grill or anything related to barbecue!From a $30 portable to a $10,400 luxury grill -- Barbecues.com has it all.

Instaware

The best place to shop online for restaurant quality goods and supplies.

Adagio Teas

You can find more than just great tea at Adagio. This site carries everything for the tea lover. And you can get a free teapot!

Coffee For Less

Coffee is expensive! Here you can find great coffees (like Godiva and Starbucks) for a discount. There are also great prices on coffee machines.

Water For Less

Most of the water that comes out of faucets tastes terrible and is of questionable quality. Have you had yours tested lately? If you want clean water delivered right to your door, this is a great service. The first month of service is free and get you get three free 5-gallon bottles when you sign up.

Mr. Beer

This classic mini-brewery is the best way to brew small batches of beer. Making your own beer is very exciting, and it tastes good too!

Lathwaites

Lathwaites is a great place to buy fine wines online. Choose from their enormous selection and have your wines delivered right to your door. It sure beats the prices and selections at your local liquor store, especially if you don't live in the big city.

Peapods

If you're like me, you really hate going to the grocery store. The lines get longer and longer and those automated self-checkouts are always breaking down. With Peapods you can avoid all that and have exactly the groceries you want delivered right to your door.

Illy's

When nothing but Italian coffee will do... Illy's coffees are fantastic and you can have them delivered. These aren't the cheapest coffees on the web, but they sure are worth the extra expense. Definitely for the discerning gourmet.

Wine Enthusiast

Everything for the discerning wine drinker, from glasses to decanters to temperature-controlled cellars. This is definitely the place to find a gift for the wine-drinker who has everything. I shop here for gifts for very special occasions.

Cooking.com

These people have everything. No kidding! And there's free shipping on over 1200 items. This is my all-around store. Whenever I want to replace some kitchen item, I do it here -- usually a lot cheaper than I can at my local kitchen store.

Re-Stock It

ReStockIt specializes in restaurant and kitchen supplies. They carry everything from glassware to professional appliances. This is the place to go if you want pro equipment at reasonable prices. And they have an amazing line of cleaning supplies, too.

Tipu's Chai Mix

CHAI concentrate, the easy way to make Chai. Sharon's Enchilada Sauce, a spicy synthesis of flavors, traditional Mexican recipe. Our fruity, sweet-spicy Date Raisin Chutney is an old family recipe.

Cochise Coffee LLC

Roasted to order always fresh. They only roast after the coffee
is ordered by the customer. Wholesale to coffee shops retailers grocers and restaurants. They also sell to individuals.

If you'd like me to check out your site, please email me. I'll take a look and see if it's right for Recipe-Free Cooking.