As 2015 comes to an end, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our family, friends and visitors to the Country Kitchen a very happy New Year.
2015 has been great year, and I have really enjoyed starting this project. I have appreciated the comments and feedback, and I look forward to talking to everyone more as the site develops and I try some new things in 2016.
On behalf of Kathy, myself and our K-9 Kids Eve and Harley, we would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016!! May you find all the happiness you deserve!!
As we close in on the last day of the year, I have started the process of bringing The Storeroom online. In The Storeroom I will be listing some of the kitchen items that I use, and that make my time in the kitchen more productive and enjoyable.
I will be listing link to some of the products on Amazon.ca. My experience with Amazon as a consumer has been very good, and I am pleased to being trying the Associate Program with them which will allow me to link to their products, and receive a small commission on any sales. I am not looking to make my fortune, but if it helps cover some of the costs of maintaining the site, that would be a bonus.
As with everything else on the site, it is a work in progress, but I hope that you will find the information both useful and interesting.
There are so many cooking techniques out there that one loses count. Some are basic, some take years of practice to master. However I think the most valuable techniques any cook can develop in order to improve the success and enjoyment of cooking is also one of the easiest to learn.
The French call it “Mise en place”. In English, it means “putting in place”. Ever notice when you watch a cooking show that most chefs have all the ingredients measured out and ready to go? They just grab the little dish with the ingredient and in it goes – no muss, no fuss, no measuring… This is mise en place at work. The other advantage of mise in place is it puts an end to every cooks nightmare scenario – being mid cooking, going to the pantry for an ingredient and then quizzically staring at the shelves saying to oneself “I was sure I had that…”.
Mise en place only requires a little bit of time and a small set of dishes to organize the ingredients in. I have about 20 prep dishes, about half are glass, half are stainless, and they are a variety of sizes. I also use ziplock sandwich bags for larger amounts of items. Here is my collection of dishes
These dishes are inexpensive, and for less than any ‘as seen on TV’ kitchen gadget you can stock yourself with a healthy selection of dishes. The type and size is really up to you, I like the wide shallow glass for herbs and dry ingredients, and the deeper metal ones for liquids. The only kind I don’t really care for are the silicone ones, they are expensive in comparison, and I don’t like working with them as much. Explore your local kitchen shop or mega mart and you will find a selection of them that will work for you.
Once you get into the swing of assembling your ingredients in advance, you will never go back to trying to measure out something while the step before is burning in the pan. Your cooking will improve, your stress will decrease, and you will be able to tell everyone you have mastered a really useful French cooking technique!
One of the things I love about cooking is sharing the discovery of new foods and preparations with others. So much of the joy of food comes from this sharing, much of the time being the one learning, sometimes being the teacher. Other times you just get to be there to witness someone achieve a successful adventure into something new to them. No matter which it is, it is something that brings me a great deal of enjoyment. This leads me to todays post…
In our modern age, Christmas has changed from what they were generations past. Families seem to be far more spread out around the country, or the world, and getting together over the holidays becomes much more difficult. The joining of extended families at the same table for Christmas dinner seems to be getting more and more rare.
Fortunately, this year we were able to spend Christmas dinner with my sister and her family, and as we live very close to one another, we were able to combine efforts on the dinner. I handled the bird, stuffing, gravy and cranberries, she handled the rest.
My sister is a quite capable cook, but like most people she hasn’t ventured too far outside of her day to day comfort zone. But she has the spark of someone who seeks to venture into new territory, and I have enjoyed sharing some recipes and kitchen time with her since she moved here from the Coast. One of the things that fell to her for Christmas dinner was dessert, and much to her credit she decided to head into what was for her uncharted territory and make a Cheesecake.
Dinner came off really well, and we all had a healthy helping (or two) of the bounty that was presented. I could tell from the conversation that my sister was equal parts excited and nervous as the time for dessert came about. She had chosen to do a Candy Cane Cheesecake with chocolate glaze, and it looked great. So hurdle one was cleared, because we all eat with our eyes first.
Very Festive!!
She cut generous slices, and served it up to an eager group. There is an old saying that ‘the proof is in the tasting’ – and the tasting proved that she had nailed it. The texture was great, the flavour even better. It was an awesome Christmas time flavour, and a perfect finish to a great meal. It was really good, and it was so neat to see the confidence that came to her in the knowledge that she has just nailed a new skill. I really enjoyed watching her realize that she had done a great job of something new.
Nice job sis, you just chalked up a new skill to be proud of and drawn upon again!
Now, I am not the worlds biggest turkey fan. But, a nicely prepared slice of bird can act as a great transportation device for one of my favorite Christmas condiments – cranberries.
I can remember many a Christmas with the obligatory ‘cranberries in a can’ sauce that was the norm in the day. However as I worked on my cooking skills, early on I found out how easy it is to make my own cranberries. Now, the recipe on the bag of berries is alright, but the folks over at Cooks Country / Cooks Illustrated / America’s Test Kitchen have a couple of great recipes. The ‘regular’ sauce is a bit nicer than the bag recipe, but my favorite is their Apricot-Ginger Cranberry Sauce.
It has a sweetness from the apricot that balances the tart cranberries, and a little hint of cayenne that gives it just a perfect amount of spice to compliment the ginger. This mix of flavours is really nice, and it complements the turkey very, very well.
Apricot-Ginger in back, regular in front
I made a big batch of each tonight, and portioned out into some containers. They will be off to the kids, and to friends of ours at the coast with a healthy portion retained for our Christmas table.
I can’t share the recipes here unfortunately as they are copyrighted. I do encourage anyone interested in cooking or food to look at an subscription to the Cooks Country / Cooks Illustrated websites. Then you have access to an amazing selection of recipes, all highly tested and very well explained.
Give homemade cranberries a try for you Christmas table. Once you have, you will never open another can again!
My return to the website in earnest has been delayed again. No sooner did I get the operating system software on my laptop re-installed and software back up and running, the computer itself decided that it had gone as far as it was prepared to and blew it’s cooling fan. Due to age it wasn’t practical to repair, and the heat build up quickly ‘baked’ the machine.
That led to the search for a new laptop, which being the research junkie I am that took some time. After securing a decent deal via Black Friday sales, I was up and running with a new laptop. Well, running being relative, as out of the box computers tend to not do too much.
After a number of hours getting everything reinstalled and set up, I am back in action. Just in time for Christmas…
I have been busy in the kitchen, getting my usual collection of Christmas baking laid up. Tarts and cookies galore, enough to get thru the season and have a stock in the deep freeze for future enjoyment.
I will be getting back into the swing of things here shortly. In the meantime, I will be spending time with friends and family over the holidays, and I hope that you will as well.
From Kathy and I, and our K9-Kids Eve and Harley, we wish you all a very happy holiday season (however you chose to celebrate), and a Healthy, Happy and Amazing 2016.
