Mano-a- Mano with Edward Scissorhands

OK-me and this little guy are going to come to terms. I haven't bought a shotgun or anything like that-but he is seriously testing my Cambridge "all creatures have a place on this earth" mentality.

I was fine when the local bunny ate all my strawberries--a minor inconvenience. and I have been OK with the squirrels lifting my expensive tuberous begonia bulbs to toss around the yard.

But Edward scissorhands and I are doing serious battle. I feel him mocking me from the bushes every morning as he sees me cursing him as I replace all the divots one by one. slowly watching the grass die as he does his thing every night.

I was unsure what type of creature was taking a can opener to my lawn every night. However my friend Ellen informed me that it is a skunk. So one must approach with caution.

I have tried killing the grubs so his food supply is cut out-but he just waits it out till they come back and then he starts again.

Every morning I go out to get the paper and there it is-massive destruction-grass clumps thrown eveyrwhere-but with intense precision at the root line.

I feel his eyes on me as I scream in the air "EDWARD!". I assume he has gotten used to his name. Maybe I should have little t-shirts made for he and all his little skunk friends

"You Grow it and Mow it, We throw it ".

I am planning my revenge as we speak.

What a meat market!

OK OK-so it's not the type of meat market I am used to where scantily clad women and leering men provide the visual entertainment. It was however a real visual experience.

Fish heads, Tongue, Chickens and rabbits oh my!

As promised, these are the meat pictures from the Paris market. They are gross to us-but really, what a tribute to the animal. I remember my grandmother slaughtering her own chickens and using every bit of that chicken. Here we throw out 1/2 of the usable animal because we don't like thinking about the reality of eating an animal.

I say if you slaughter it-use it! I try to use as much of an animal as possible-being one of those "gross" people that likes to cook the neck and innards and has been known to eat tongue, pickled pigs feet and any other number of things that gross out the masses of American consumers. How sad. Not only are these cuts delicious and nutritious--but they are also a better way to respect the animal. Oh well-I doubt I will ever win that battle-but hopefully I have given you something to think about and one day you may try to use more of the animal than just those parts nicely cellophaned in the grocery store.

Enjoy the pictures. I took some of them through the glass cases so I notice there are some reflections....but you get the idea.

Bouffe tout c'il vous plait!

Miscommunication

Before the Paris meat market post- I would like to relay a small food funny that happened this weekend with my girlfriends on the cape.

Being the dutiful Diva that I am , I made some really nice healthy vegetable salads for us to all enjoy over the weekend.

Joanne had us all at her house: Charlene, Allyson, Sarah and me.

So we are sitting around and Allyson is half listening to the conversation as she was not feeling that well. Charlene is asking me about the salads and what is in them.

At one point I keep saying "Kohlrabi". Everyone was kind of looking at me like I was strange and kept asking the same question. And I kept answering "Kohlrabi".

Finally Allyson says-"why do you want me to call Rob and why do you keep calling him Robby???"

After a good laugh I spelled out Kohlrabi and explained it is an Asian vegetable used much like a daikon radish-but milder.

Then later that day we were all at job lot and low and behold-they had Kohlrabi seeds. Everyone was relived to know I had not lost my mind (well at least not pertaining to that!).

So sometimes what seems so obvious to one person is clearly sounding like something else to someone else. Sort of make you wonder how often we think we know what people are saying-but really have no idea. :).

By the way, the salad was fabulous.

peeled grated Kohlrabi

peeled grated carrots

one lemon-juiced and zested

Chinese black vinegar

grated ginger

grape seed or canola oil (about twice the amount of vinegar you use)

minced garlic

toasted sesame seeds toasted

Cashews chopped

hint of hot pepper(Cayenne)

salt to taste

mix lemon juice, zest,oil, vinegar, ginger and garlic together. Pour over grated veggies. toss with cashews sesame seeds and salt.

Let sit for about an hour.

Awesome!!

This Little Piggy Went to Market

Its been two years since I've been to Paris, But because of my acute sensitivity to food--I haven't forgotten a thing! As usual-Paris does not disappoint.

My sister joined me on this trip for her first visit to Paris in 47 years.. Since we both have the same childhood memories of food it was easy to spend most of the trip eating and reminiscing.

In one little pastry shop in Montparnasse (which we traveled to by metro specifically) we bought 5 pastries and ate them for breakfast/lunch. YUMMY!!!! One was this delectable puff type pastry that had been caramelized with a slightly perhaps lemony flavor-but nothing that would override the incredible butter taste that had permeated the entire roll. Another was an almond egg/cream type mixture that delighted with texture differences between the crackly pastry layers, the nutty soft but not gushy filling, and the sliced almonds on top. Spectacular. We looked everywhere for the caramelized butter pastry but never found it again. This is why I travel to that little shop.

We went to Angelina's, frequently. It is one of Paris's premier pastry shops. We were fortunate enough that it was two blocks from our hotel and our hotel room faced the entrance. I say fortunate because the lines start early and stay for most of the day. We could look out the window and see if there was no line and quickly scoot down to buy some delectable little morsel to munch on. After all-wouldn't want to get faint from lack of pastry for a couple of hours!

I had not been to the Paris markets in quite some time. Usually when I am in Paris the person with me is more interested in Notre dame and the Eiffel Tower than in pain au chocolat and beignet's. So I was delighted to spend time pursuing the markets and looking at food with someone who also remembered it as I did--delicious beyond compare, real and beautiful.

It is difficult to describe the french connection to food and their respect for everything that they put in their mouth. But a trip to the market or a walk along the street where there are food markets will tell the story.

Their vegetables are huge and beautiful and REAL. I bought 1/2 lb of strawberries and was amazed and delighted at their flavor and texture. Not even straight from the farmers market at home do they taste like this. Their produce and street food is never cheap or manufactured.

The white asparagus is a common fixture at all the markets. It is about an inch in diameter and absolutely gorgeous. The fennel heads are the size of grapefruits and the cauliflower is the size of a basketball.. everything is in perfect condition and beautifully ripe.

The French buy their food almost every day so they would not tolerate under ripe produce sitting in the store for a week or more just ripening or rotting. Because the food delivery system in the US must accommodate 300 million people it will be vastly different than if we were the size of Texas.

Nonetheless, the difference is astonishing and one could only hope to have the same quality at home. But I doubt we will ever see that. Even at the farmers markets in the US the food quality is not as good as in France. Our farming methods, soil and climate do not produce the same quality produce. And our standards, due to years of indifference and lack of quality, are much lower.

Our one disappointment was that as little girls we regaled on what we called Beignet's. They looked like dunkin donuts munchkins-but the taste, texture and smell are vastly different. We walked the market but could only find beignet's that looked like American donuts that were filled with apple and creme and other things. Not what we were looking for-- so we didn't taste them. Sadly, we never found our memory of a beignet. Although we are told by the locals they do still exist. But not to despair-we were able to buy several pastries and eat all of them as we strolled the food orgy before us.

I have taken some pictures of the produce and as you can see I am not lying (however since all the produce is out sized it is difficult to see in the pictures the magnitude of their beauty and size--take my word for it-HUGE!).

Be prepared for the next blog entry which will have some graphic pictures of real meat that you may feel "grossed out" by. However once again-their respect for the food and the animal is paramount. If you are going to eat chicken, or pork or rabbit-or whatever it is--you should know where it comes from, what it looks like outside the little cellophane wrapper at the grocery store, and you should have respect for its life and use all possible parts--enjoy the vegetable shots and prepare yourself for the others....

Oh, and sorry about no pastry shots from the little pastry shop in Montparnasse. We were so busy stuffing them in our little mouths like Little piggies that we didn't take the time to snap pictures. Ce la Vie! On a bien Manger!

Everyday Food

What to have for dinner. The biggest dilemma in America on a daily basis. Unless you happen to live in the white house and have a personal chef--this is a daily ritual that we can all relate too.

Why is it so difficult? If you have children I can imagine it is tough to be creative every day. But even beyond that-there is something within us that screams for something colorful, tasty, filling and exciting. Then we open the fridge and see pickle relish, mustard and milk. Yeah-not exactly the makings of Haute cuisine in there.

I keep a few things on hand that allow me to make something good a lot of the time. I'm not going to lie and say every night is like a french bistro--but I do usually have something tasty and healthy most every night. Even if that is french bread and good cheese.

So I took a picture of my salads tonight. One was for dinner and the other was for Lunch the next day on the train. Far superior to train food!

I always keep really good pitted olives, hard boiled eggs, pickled onions, pickled sweet peppers, cheese, lettuce on hand. For these salads I also had some steak and chicken pieces that I had taken home from my friend Janis's Kentucky derby party. The salads were very yummy. Oh I had some fresh pineapple so I added a little of that chopped up as well.

The salad dressing in the background is from trader Joe's. I make my own for company-but just for me I use this stuff which is low cal and you fat and VERY tasty.

It took about ten minutes to make both salads.

So many things can go into a salad. In a couple of weeks I am going to have one of the Diva ladies over who eats salad every day -0but has been eating the same salad for about a year. We are going to have a lesson on salad variety. both the type of lettuce and the things you use in it. And then maybe even the dressings.

Last week we had dinner for my friend Paula's birthday. We made a fabulous salad with all the things I mentioned above plus some thinly sliced fennel. It was just delicious. We had that with some of my homemade sweet onion dressing.

On the menu that night was the salad as well as these really tasty mussels we made with a tomato cilantro hot pepper sauce and some nice crusty french bread--toasted with garlic scraped across the top. A couple of fresh artichokes with a nice dipping sauce and Viola! a fabulous meal.

Of course I forgot to take pictures of that-but it was colorful and inviting--trust me.

OK-Paris next!

POP POP POP!

That is what all the flowers are doing. Yesterday my peony tree went from bud to flower in ten minutes! Oh what a beauty it is too.

The Primroses are passing by but they are still so colorful and happy. Since they are shade plants they really light up a shade garden. The Lamium with them is gorgeous as well-but that blooms most of the summer. Pink, White and dark pink. Lovely.

The wisteria, scotch broom and lilacs are in full bloom as well.

No disasters in the garden since I gave myself a concussion with the hammer. But today I go out and get the garden ready for my two week absence so I am sure to do something klutzy. I'll keep you posted. :).

Yes, two week absence. I will be in London, Paris and Geneva. SO guess what? when I am in Paris I will have lots of postings. My sister is coming with me and she has not been in Paris since we were children (when we used to live there). She wants to visit all of our old houses. This should be an experience.

I went to my grandmothers house in Clamart a few years ago. Her neighbor was still alive. He immediately knew who I was-and i swear he had not changed in 30 years!

Paris is such a foodie's heaven. I will be in my glory sucking up all the chocolate croissants I can get my hands on. And butter-I just mainline the butter-why try to eat it on something-that is so time consuming. :).

SO stay tuned-and enjoy the garden shots from above. There will be no garden shots for a while now-just lots of FOOD!!! French Food. YUM!!

Babes in Toy land

OK-I can't exactly call my sister and I "babes". but we were definitely in toy land at my friend Ellen's house this week. Ellen is a master gardener and probably a master at most things. She's been my friend for 30 years and together we have shared a love of food, gardening, shopping, clothes, shoes and all things girly.

She lives in Greensboro close enough to my mom that one of us visits the other when I am there. This time it was my turn to do the drive. And happily so.

We arrived just in time for lunch (of course we planned that!) Ellen has an amazing vegetable garden and the lettuce was just up enough to make a fabulous salad. We also had a delicious mix of sausage and potatoes and peppers. But the real treat was dessert!

Ellen made us these delicious macaroons. Knowing I am allergic to coconut-she kindly made two types: almond and coconut. The almond ones were scrumptious. I hear the coconut ones were better. alas I will never know...:(.

We then went out in to the garden and looked at all her fruit trees laden with fruit which will ripen through the summer, gorgeous flowers everywhere (she has a 10 acre property so a lot of planting and naturalization), and unusual garden elements that catch the eye.

I photographed our treats as well as a beautiful weeping conifer along the drive that she is training around a metal railing she found. The conifer is spectacular. The other shot is a view looking down the driveway. the first picture is her cutting garden just before it goes into full spectacular bloom.

Big girls playground.

The Real McCoy

Frequently when people visit my house they are stunned to find out I do 90% of my own gardening. I must admit I do have help with some of the more mundane tasks of replanting or mulching or clean up. Although even then I am right there helping.

I have heard people claim to be their own gardener-however they are never working in the garden and they know nothing about there plants. So I am always suspicious.

For those of us who do slave for hours every week (happily of course) we take great pride in our ability to do everything ourselves.

SO how do you tell if you are dealing with a real gardener or an impostor? If you have had your doubts about your catty friends comments about her yard versus yours and her gardening ability-here's a sure fire way to know if she or he are the real gardeners.

Check the kitchen sink. It has recently come t0 my attention that every true gardening Friend that I know has a nail brush by the kitchen sink. The absence of the nail brush signals-AN IMPOSTOR! you can rat them out if you want because in my book this is proof positive!

Oh the tell tail signs....:).

Premature Florigation

This is when all the flowers in your garden bloom at once and then turn green-leaving you feeling empty and used.

The cause: Over exuberance at seeing pretty blooming beauties.

The fix: Restraint.

Common Scenario:
First week of spring you look out into the yard and think "THIS is the year I am going to have a gorgeous garden!" SO you race to the local nursery (or closest big Box store) and come back with a car full of plants. You plant them all, fertilize them and are in awe at your handiwork. For about a month. then slowly you are left feeling empty and sad as the whole garden devolves into green leaves or worse yet, brown sticks.

STOP THE INSANITY! Do not-I repeat DO NOT go buy everything you can get your hands on the first week of spring. Perennials bloom but once a year for a short period of time (2-3 weeks). They come back every year - but they only bloom once a year. The only way to have flowers all year with a perennial garden is to plan.

This is called Succession Gardening. Of course most of you are not going to spend hours researching which plant blooms when. I suspect you have your hands full just tyring to figure out when to fertilize and when to deadhead.

SO what's an aspiring gardener to do? It's very simple. Go to the nursery every three weeks. Their stock will change as the growing season changes because the only things that sell are things with blooms on them. So if you go and buy a few plants every three weeks- you will have a lovely garden next year that blooms all season!

How simple was that? And all it took was a little restraint.

Hammered

Today was one of my usual obsessive compulsive days in the garden. Nothing new. Today's obsession was the greenhouse for the fig tree.

Since the fig tree already has fig buds (see previous post) I was quite concerned to get it under wraps in preparation for what I am sure will be at least one more frost before summer is ushered in.

So there I was, standing on a ladder, pounding the heck out of the frame of this portable green house, when all of a sudden the hammer flew out of my hand and hit me square between the eyes. BAM!

I saw stars and momentarily started to fall off the ladder. But I managed to keep it together and utter a few curse words as I walked around the garden trying to act like nothing had happened. I made the mistake of touching the area. OUCH! Wow did that hurt.

Ok, 30 seconds have gone by. I can now ignore it and get back on the ladder and finish.

Hours later I am incredibly sleepy but not allowing myself to rest. I had to give that little 15 minute speech on garden design at the garden club tonight so I couldn't go to sleep. What if I didn't wake up in time?? No, had to tough it out. Just keep moving, everything will be fine.

As the time approached to head over to the garden club meeting I was really feeling tired, but i got in the car and proceeded to go to the meeting. Well at least I proceeded somewhere-but it wasn't the garden club meeting. After going the wrong way for about 10 minutes I realized something was amiss. Oh dear-not a good sign.

Got there, unpacked my things, sat down and just wanted to fall asleep. Thank goodness the speakers were interesting-it really kept me alert.

Time for the presentation. Turned on the lap top and the projector. OK-how do I move my cursor? Honestly-I could not remember how to move the cursor on my laptop. My lap top was staring back at me like a tablet with Hieroglyphics. Nothing looked familiar.

Somehow I managed to get through the technical panic and did the presentation. The flowers I can talk about in my sleep-so at least I was able to sound coherent even though my mind was mostly absent.

Currently I am trying to stay awake till 10:30. The nurses in the Garden Club are all worried I have a concussion. I know what that means-don't sleep for more than 3 hours at a time. So I will set my alarm for 2:30 and then Liz has promised to wake me at 5:30 as this is the hideous hour she gets up for work.

Yes, gardening is a dangerous sport. I skied all winter with nary a bump or a scratch-but set me loose in the garden and I manage to get a concussion. this leads me to believe that perhaps I should be wearing the helmet to garden instead of to ski. This would be particularly attractive when I am gardening in my PJ's. You Tube anyone?

I'll sign in tomorrow so everyone knows I made it through the night. I know you will be on pins and needles...
Bon soir.

Hey Bud! Grow UP!

Yes, it's spring. In the beginning I promised cooking, gardening, and design. We did cooking all winter (and that will continue-do not dispair) and now we are moving into the gardening and design portion of this program. :).

I cannot tell you how excited I am. Four years ago I planted a Moscow Pink Lilac. For four years it grew profusely (five feet!) but never bloomed :(. I was giving it one more year in it's current location. Well actually I was giving it one more year-because it was sited perfectly so moving it would not have made a difference.

Yesterday-as I was perusing my newborns (that is how it feels every spring watching everything come out of the ground and grow)-I saw them. BUDS!! and lots of them too!!! Oh how exciting. I had to share this with you. If you look closely at the picture you will see lots of buds. The Moscow Pink Lilac is a particularly beautiful specimen with lovely very soft pink buds. Not that the traditional Lilac isn't pretty-but this one is a real knock out. I can't wait to see it in bloom.

I also spotted my first Fig bud today. Amazingly early! usually it is mid May before any show up. I didn't take a picture of that-but I will. I was too busy doing my fig bud dance around the tree to take a picture. No pictures of that unless the neighbors have a webcam on their crazy neighbor that gardens in her robe.

The primroses are coming up as well-they are so cute and -their colors so cheery and vibrant--almost fluorescent actually. Hard to believe these plants prefer almost full shade. Very similar to Tuberous Begonias that are also extremely colorful but like shade. The Primrose is a hardy perennial though-unlike the Begonia that is a bulb which must be lifted each fall. and stored inside.

I will be speaking at the garden club this week on garden design. this is a topic I could speak on for hours. But I only have 15 minutes. Guess I will have to talk fast.

The pictures of the path are an example of how much more inviting a winding path is than a straight one. Hard scape can be used to allow the eye to wander or to force the eye to a location. In this instance, the path draws the visitor to the front door-but also allows them to "visit" along the way by creating a sense of whimsy with a drunken path. (please excuse the grass-it has not awakened to spring yet).

This week the Dahlia and Blazing Star bulbs and Hostas and Hydrangeas went in the ground along with lots of seeds: Beets, snap peas, Sweet pea flowers, larkspur, cleome, cosmos and who knows what else.

Also, the official plant moving season has begun. In the house nothing has been changed for nine years. Outside the house? I move my plants like most people change their underwear. Honestly-I am never happy. today I moved the Rio Samba rose, a hydrangea, and three daylillies. If you are a plant in my garden you better travel light cause you will be moving a lot!

Of course it is not entirely my fault. These plants have a mind of their own coming back a foot or so from their original location. When you are a perfectionist in the garden this is not practical. It sets up a whole series of moves.

I am already eyeing this weekend's moves. I will post before and afters on these--and I am sure you will agree--the move was all for the best. :).

Now go get dirty!

"leaf" the stems? sometimes.

This topic came up in one of my classes recently and I wanted to pass on scientific information on the topic.

I was using cilantro for the Veloute and used the chopped stems in the broth (which would later be strained out). One of the students was aghast that I would use the stems-thinking that all herbs had unpleasant stems.

My advice was that cilantro is an herb that you can use the entire leaf and stem for flavor. But I did not think that any other heb shared this distinction. I did say the fine stems of parsley were ok.

Today, Cook's illustrated had this to say about thier test of Cilantro and parsley stems:

"Recently, we heard a wild rumor that the stems of flat-leaf parsley hold more flavor than the leaves. We decided to put this notion to the test, and, because most of us had also heard of using cilantro stems (a.k.a.Chinese parsley) in cooking, we included it in the test as well. After cleaning and drying several bunches of parsley and cilantro, we asked tasters to eat the herbs by the sprig, from the tender leaf to the fat tip of the stem. What did we find? Well, the stems do have more flavor, but that's not always good news. While the parsley leaves were fresh and herbal, we were surprised by how intense the flavor became as we traveled down the stems. By the time we reached the stem ends, tasters were complaining (loudly) about bitterness. Cilantro, however, was another story. Sure the leaves were tasty, but the great flavor found in the stems caught us all off guard. Sweet, fresh, and potent the flavor intensified as we traveled down the stem but never became bitter. The moral? If a recipe calls for cilantro and a crunchy texture isn't an issue, use the stems as well as the leaves. But when it comes to parsley—unless you'll be using the herb in a soup or stew where its strong flavor won't be out of place—be picky and use just the leaves"

I love being right :).

Hamming it up on Easter

It's Easter and many of you will be preparing meals for your family. Hopefully they will be Yummy. However my experience has been that people spend a lot of time on the sides and leave the ham to some third party.

Now this may seem like a good idea since-how much can you screw up ham-but I have tasted some pretty bad hams in my day (and I am not talking former BF's here). So many things can go wrong with the wrong ham (in this case I am talking former BF's-haha)

Ham's can be turned into some pretty ethereal things -think Prosciutto. Or they can be very lackluster-think packaged deli ham. Same meat-different process. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't (again back to the ex BF's-but I digress)

So in honor of the "hammiest time of year" (yes, that was a play on holiest), I will let you in on some ham testing (again with the old BF's-I have to stop this!). Seriously:

My favorite food publication is Cook's Illustrated. Their guidance is invaluable. So for Easter I am going to share their taste test results for Ham. IF you haven't bought your ham yet-I would suggest listening to them as they are very scientific about their taste tests and product comparisons. They have never let me down.

They have a great website called America's Test Kitchen that you can subscribe to for $29.95/yr. May sound pricey-but they have incredible hot to video's on just about any topic and they do these great product comparisons that you can trust since they take NO advertising dollars!


Recommended

Cook's Spiral Sliced Hickory Smoked Bone-In Honey Ham
Nearly every taster praised the "nice balance of smoke and salt" and "genuine ham flavor."
$3.29 per pound

Not Recommended

Carando Honey-Cured Spiral Sliced Ham
The thickly-sliced ham earned high marks for its "deep, smoky flavor," but tasters criticized the meat as "too wet" and "too sweet."
$2.99 per pound

Not Recommended

Hillshire Farm Bone-In Brown Sugar Cured Ham (Spiral-Sliced Ham)
This ham lost points on two accounts: Tasters described the meat as "utterly devoid of smoke flavor" and "spongy and cottony," and no one liked the "sweet, gummy" glaze applied at the factory.

Wishing you and your families the tastiest of Easter's.

Inappropriate paddling-again!

An urge struck me this afternoon to make Nut Rolls. I have no idea why-but I went with it. It had been a building urge. Something that had been calling to me for days. Baking is not usually something I do without reason. But here I was making nut rolls in the middle of the day, in between and during conference calls.

I made the scalded milk, added the butter and sugar and then the eggs. Then the yeast. Now it was time to pour all that in the mixer and add the flour.

As I am doing this, I am reminded of the last time I made nut roll. It was Christmas and I was already exhausted from making the 5000 cookies. I had cracked the 7 eggs in a bowl instead of separating them, poured my tea into the eggs instead of my tea cup and then used the wire whisk instead of the dough hook to mix in the flour. A disaster ensued. ALthough it was one I ate in private and it was quite yummy-but that is another story.

All the while I chalked this up to extreme exhaustion.

Today I am making everything fully rested, reading the recipe twice to make sure everything is going in at the right time. Actually measuring (for the most part), altering the recipe for things I want to try out (more egg yolk, less egg white) and in general--being "present"--or so I thought.

Enter senior moment. Staring at the mixer I am thinking about how the last time I had been so stupid as to use the wire whisk and watch and wonder why the dough was not climbing the dough hook. How silly, I thought.

There I am staring at this going round and round in the bowl and wondering why it isn't climbing the dough hook.

Are you ready for this? I wasn't using the dough hook! I put the pastry paddle on this time instead of the dough hook. I couldn't believe it. While thinking about how I did it the last time-I did it again! there is definitely something wrong with my brain!

I recovered this time - getting the dough hook on and finishing the job. But really-how can I be so stupid?? You don't see THAT on the food network!

The nut rolls came out beautifully. I forgot to take pictures before I put them in their respective ziploc bags. But I enclosed one from the christmas set. they look the same. Most of them are getting sent out for Easter-but I am keeping the little ones I make in the Brioche tins. they are so cute. You can just pop them in your mouth. Pop! yummy! Expand. Oh well.

Creme Anglaise and a likable (or is that lickable) Impostor

Creme Anglaise is not technically one of the mother sauces. However it is a custard and was included in my Sauces class because I feel all good goods should be versed in custard basics.

A Creme Anglaise will make any cake dessert sublime. It takes the ordinary and makes it "WOW OH WOW is that GOOD!" And really-if you are going to make something-you probably want the accolades. Why settle for "oh -this is good"--when you could have so much more?

So is this something you will regret trying to make and throw the pan at your laptop cursing me out? Not likely. But will you occasionally screw it up because you weren't paying attention? Probably. But don't be discouraged. It happens to the best of us. Concentration is so easily broken by the door bell, the phone or any other daily distraction you are likely to encounter. I will say-any custard takes concentration and attention to detail for about 10 minutes. If you can handle that-you can handle a custard.

By the way, custards are the basis for all homemade ice creams. So master this and you can become the neighborhood ice cream guru. I love making all different kinds of creative ice creams. Carmel corn, Guinness beer, five spice, etc., it's really fun once you get the hang of the basics. But I digress...

Creme Anglaise:

It is yet another egg and the hot milk story. So once again-science is involved. One must not cook the egg or in this case-allow the egg to continue to cook.

So first you need to prepare an ice-water bath-this will be used for the sauce after you have cooked it to proper temperature. you will want to stop the cooking process immediately by straining the sauce into a bowl set on the ice water bath.

Now put milk in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Make sure the heat is not too high-you want the milk to come to a boil slowly otherwise more than likely you will burn the milk.

While the milk is heating, in a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt until thick and light (I usually add vanilla now as well-even though the recipe doesn't call for it). Slowly pour in half of the hot milk, while stirring constantly. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the remaining milk mixture, stirring constantly.

Be careful to temper the egg by adding the milk very slowly-bringing the egg up to temperature instead of cooking it and making scrambled eggs. If your mixture looks like scrambled eggs-throw it out and try again. This time-go SLOWLY!

If you are successful and your mixture is smooth congratulations you are half way there-stir in the bourbon.

Now the fun part. Place saucepan over low heat and bring to a gently simmer, stirring constantly. Continue cooking until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and reaches 180 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. (oh there is that darn thermometer again. I told you to buy one! ) Immediately remove from heat.

Strain Crème Anglaise through a fine mesh sieve set over a medium bowl. Set bowl in ice water bath and stir Crème Anglaise until cooled.

That's it! A perfectly lovely sauce that will make anything taste delicious!

Now for an impostor that is easier to make and very yummy. (I'm going to let you in on a secret here-I like it better than the Creme Anglaise!)

Sauce:
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup amaretto liqueur
2 teaspoons cornstarch

To make the sauce: Bring the cream, milk, and sugar to a boil in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, mix the amaretto and cornstarch to blend and then whisk into the cream mixture. Simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Set aside and keep warm. (The amaretto sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm before serving.)

I wonder how many days those women on TV would want you to starve yourself to have a teaspoon of this stuff? two weeks maybe? I think I'll eat the whole bowl just to piss them off. Well ok-maybe the whole bowl is going a bit too far. Half. :).

Dieting do's and dont's

This weekend I was watching some Today Show type program (have no idea what it was as I do not watch TV very often). The only time I really watch TV is when I am up skiing and turn it on when I am vegging after a hard day of skiing.

So there I am eating my french bread, cheese, and egg sandwich that I made which was Oh SO Yummy, listening to these two very very very thin women talk about diets.

This is what they said:
Have a yogurt in the morning and a fruit for a snack and then a half a sandwich for lunch with a salad. Dinner? a salad with some chicken on top and if you are still really hungry-a dessert like sugar free pudding.

But here's the really scary part, they said this was a plan you could stick with! Not something crazy like no sugar or no carbs or what ever else you might have tried. And yes-if you wanted a treat-every once in a while-have it. But just not every week. EVERY WEEK???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are they nuts? Yes, these women are clearly a size 0 and this is what they are telling women they should do for the rest of their lives to be a size 0.

Oh, and that glass of wine? Forget it-it contains 150 fat producing, willpower reducing calories. Just say no. So say no to food, wine, dessert, anything that might make you happy and reasonable. But you'll be a size 0!

Honestly, I don't want to be a size 0 and I certainly don't want to only eat something fun once a week! Also, I have no desire to walk around in a perpetually starved state of mind. I think this is a great way to keep women down. If your mind is not your own, if all you are focused on is losing weight and fighting that "I am totally starved right now but I can't eat so I can lose weight" feeling-how are you going to give 100% to what ever it is that is really important in your life?

I am not advocating gluttony or over eating-but I am really sick of how women get on TV and talk about being thin as the single most important thing a woman can do. Healthy yes, thin to bony-disturbing and counterproductive.

I finished my egg sandwich, licked the egg off my finger and changed the channel. I advise you to do the same.

Hollandaise "clarified"

Ah yes, the infamous Hollandaise sauce. This is the third of the mother sauces we are going to discuss.

Hollandaise is an emulsion. What that means is that it depends on shearing of molecules to separate them and then deposit water molecules in between. the shearing part comes from a wire whisk or a blender.

The wire whisk method is traditional and imparts a much better flavor and texture to the Hollandaise. A blender is the foolproof easy way out-but it isn't really a full flavored Hollandaise. I think of it as cheating. However many of you may think of it as the only way you would make this sauce.

It is not easy and will not always come out the first time. Also critical to the success of the sauce is the type of double boiler you are using. I learned this the hard way in my first Diva class on sauces when I tried to use a ceramic double broiler intended for chocolate. What you need is a stainless steel double boiler that gives ample room between the bottom of the double boiler pan and the boiling or simmering water. The ceramic one was way too deep and touched the simmering water-cooking the eggs almost instantly. In the picture above the pan is the correct set up.

Of course Chemistry again plays a big part in making a Hollandaise. Heat and eggs always yield a chemistry lesson :). First-only simmer the water. The boiling point on water is 214 degrees. Eggs turn solid at about 170. If you are whisking over boiling water your eggs will turn solid-no exceptions.

The trick to a Hollandaise is to get the eggs nice and thick without letting them solidify. So we raise the solidification point with the introduction of an acid. In this case, we use a little vinegar bringing the solidifying temp up about 20 degrees. This will allow you to whisk the eggs longer over the heat and get them much thicker (as well as acutally cook them so that from a health perspective you are not eating raw egg yolk-anything over 165 degrees is cooked).

Hollandaise in its basic form is eggs and butter. The butter should be clarified for the most consistent texture and the best flavor. Clarifying butter entails melting it, letting it rest about five minutes, then skimming off the part that looks like oil and leaving behind the white milk solids at the bottom. It doesn't have to be perfect-but you should get as little of the solids at the bottom as possible. Make sure your butter doesn't re-set on you (from the room being cold) and also that it isn't too hot (if you reheat it after clarifying). If it is too hot it will cook the eggs.

Crack your eggs and place the egg yolks in a double boiler over simmering (not boiling) water. Make sure to have your vinegar and clarified butter ready. Start whisking your eggs. add the vinegar reduction, keep whisking. The eggs will start to get thick. Once you get them to the desired thickness (as thick as you feel "safe" going-the longer you whisk the greater the chance of hard egg yolks). When you think the yolks are ready, remove the pan from the heat and start adding the clarified butter-first just a little then about three tablespoons at a time. Continue whisking. If you stop whisking you will have a mess. The whisking is creating the emulsion. You are literally shearing the molecules with the whisk.

Continue adding butter and whisking whisking till all the butter is gone. Add the lemon juice and peppers and salt. Test for thickness. If the sauce is too thick, add a little warm water.

That's it-it's ready to serve. It doesn't hold that well so make it last as you are ready to put dinner on the table.

From this you can make Common Secondary Sauces: Béarnaise, Maltaise, Mousseline, Foyot, Choron With this Hollandaise recipe though-you will have the basis for many other sauces. That is why it is called a mother sauce.

To make 2 cups of Hollandaise, you will need:
1 1/4 lbs of butter, clarified (you should end up with about 1 lb of clarified butter)
1/8 teaspoon Peppercorns, crushed
1/8 teaspoon Salt, (kosher preferred)
3 tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
2 tablespoons cold water
6 Egg Yolks
1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Salt and Cayenne Pepper to taste

(you can half this recipe because usually 2 cups of sauce is way too much)

Hollandaise Procedure
Clarify your butter.
Place salt, vinegar and crushed peppercorns into a sauce pan and reduce by 2/3. Remove from heat and add water.
Transfer reduction to a stainless-steel mixing bowl.
Add egg yolks and beat over a simmering pot of water until the egg yolks become thick and creamy. (If unsure about the thickness, monitor with an instant read thermometer and make sure the eggs do not exceed 150 degrees F).
Once the egg yolks have reached the desired thickness, remove from heat. Using a ladle, slowly drizzle in the warm clarified butter, starting with just a few droplets first to get the emulsion going.
Continue streaming in the clarified butter until it is completely incorporated. If the hollandaise becomes too thick before all the butter is emulsified in, thin the hollandaise with a couple drops of warm water.
Finish by seasoning your hollandaise with salt, lemon juice and cayenne pepper to taste. Add just enough cayenne to help cut through the fat of the hollandaise and to add depth of flavor; your hollandaise should not be spicy.
Adjust finale consistency with a little bit of warm water to both lighten the sauce and give it better flow.
Keep warm over a double boiler (ban-marie) until ready to serve. The best holding temperature is about 145 degrees F. This temperature both discourages the growth of bacteria and is hot enough to keep the fat in your hollandaise from solidifying. For both food safety and quality control, hollandaise should not be held any longer than two hours.

Guidelines for Making Hollandaise
Eggs start to curdle at around 160-170 degrees F. The trick is to heat your egg yolks enough to get them thick, but stop right before they reach this temperature.
Acid (usually in the form of lemon juice and/or vinegar) will help to keep your egg yolks from coagulating. If the PH in you egg mixture is around 4.5, then the curdling temperature of the yolks is raised to about 195 degrees F. This is why most classical version of hollandaise call for the addition of a vinegar reduction to be cooked with the yolks.
When making hollandaise, some chefs use whole butter while others use clarified. Although it really comes down to personal preference, just remember that whole butter is about 15% water whereas clarified butter is straight butter fat. Because of its water content, more whole butter is needed to thicken a hollandaise then just straight clarified butter.
Make sure your acid reduction is cool before the egg yolks are added or they may curdle.
The fresher your egg yolks, the easier it is for you to make your emulsion.
Use a stainless steel, round bottom bowl. The round bottom will make it easier for you to beat the egg yolks evenly and the stainless steel will not react to the acid discolor your hollandaise.
When adding your butter to the egg yolks, make sure that it is warm (about 130 degrees F) but not hot. If your clarified butter is to hot it will instantly curdle your egg yolks.
Whenever making any type of emulsion, always add the fat or oil slowly at first, a couple drops at a time. Hollandaise is no different. If you add the butter too fast, then it will give the fat a chance to “coalesce,” which will cause your sauce to separate.
Another common reason why hollandaise will break is the addition of too much fat. The standard ratio is 6 egg yolks to 1lb of clarified butter.
If concerned about the consumption of raw egg yolks, heat yolks to at least 165 degrees F or use pasteurized egg yolks to make your hollandaise.

"wine"ing about "screw"ing around

It recently occurred to me that many people do not know what corked wine tastes like. A few weekends ago I ordered two very expensive glasses of wine at an establishment I frequent.

The wine began beautifully and then WHAM! that skunky taste- irrefutably corked. I hate calling corked on a glass of wine in a place I frequent because most bartenders have no idea what a good glass of wine is supposed to taste like and think you are being high maintenance. Fortunately, Dave is an exception. His knowledge of wine is quite good and his palate is excellent.

I called him over and offered no explanation other than I wanted him to try the wine. He drank, looked pleased, then YUCK! corked. He promptly took both of our glasses and disposed of the offensive contents-opened a new bottle and poured us two new glasses-tasting first to make sure this one was fine. It was-and it was as scrumptious as I had anticipated.

A week later I am in another very nice place with a different friend and order two glasses of nice wine. A sip, enjoyment, then WHAM! corked again! How can this be two weekends in a row-I can go years without have a corked wine and now two in a row. Hesitantly I call over the bartender, explaining that i think the wine is corked, expecting a HMPH out of him. instead, he smells it, rotates it in his nose, and then takes a taste. Face does a nice corkscrew and we get two completely different glasses on the house.

Both times, my friends would have drunk this offensive wine. In fact, one of them told me she would just think it was a type of wine she didn't like, make note of it and never drink it again. Hence why some people announce they don't like Cabernet's or Malbec's or some other type of wine. Chances are it was a bad wine, but chances are just as good that it was corked.

SO what is corked wine? The best way I can describe it is the finish on a wine tastes like your dirty laundry smells. Sometimes you can smell it-but more often that not, you cannot smell it. The best chance at smelling it is when the bottle is opened. The cork will usually have an offensive odor. But so few bartenders or waitstaff smell the cork anymore and it is not routinely offered to the buyer. Also, if buying wine by the glass at the bar-you have no chance at a cork smelling unless the bottle was opened in front of you.

And what causes this? Corks are prone to something called TCA contamination. It can also come from the wine barrel-but more often it is from the cork. This is the very reason you are seeing screw top wines come back in vogue.

Many wineries-even upscale ones-are sick and tired of losing inventory to corking. So their are two alternatives:
Screw tops or synthetic tops. Both are much more prevalent these days. I must say-I miss corks. I love their spongy nature and the way the wine bleeds its color onto the cork. The ritual of smelling the cork of a newly opened bottle and getting that earthly fragrance from the cork-anticipating the wine's flavors.

Synthetics and screw tops offer none of that-but they do eliminate cork "corking". This is not to say you can't still have a corked bottle of wine-remember a very small percentage of corked wines have been ruined by a barrel. So even it it has a screw top or a synthetic cork-if it taste musty, it's probably corked.

Of course the biggest knock off on those screw tops is the lack of ceremony they allow at a fancy or romantic dinner. Somehow the snap of metal breaking as you twist the cap cannot compete with the familiar thwack you hear when bottle is uncorked. We are programed to anticipate something good is coming when we hear that sound.

So don't drink bad wine. All wines are not to your taste I am sure-this is not what this is about. This is about the difference in eating spoiled meat or meat that is not in a sauce you fancy. If you don't like the taste of the wine-move on to something else. But if it tastes like dirty sneakers-chances are pretty high that its corked. Don't drink bad wine. It spoils the palate and deters anticipation of a good thing.

Viva Veloute!

Just trying to drum up a little excitement for this somewhat forgotten Mother Sauce.

What is Veloute you ask? Very simply, it is a Bechamel with stock instead of milk. the roux thickens the sauce and it is velvety because of the Roux. But it does not have milk. So those of you with a lactose intolerance may find this is a sauce you can have with minimal "effect". And it is very lux so you won't miss the milk.

For our Veloute, I wanted to infuse the Roux with flavor so I used cilantro, leeks and celery. ALl finely chopped and put in the Roux as it cooked. I reserved the cilantro leaves and used only the stems in the cooking.

BONUS! three things you should know about cilantro.

1) it is a cool weather herb preferring weather in the 70's and full sun to grow. Anything over 85 for a day or two and it will bolt. this means it will seed. so now you will have all these little brown seeds at the end of the fronds. these are coriander. you can use them in cooking but save a few to drop in a pot in late august so you have more cilantro in the fall.

2) cilantro is the only herb that i know of where the stems are just as tasty as the leaves. So you can use the whole plant.

3) Cilantro doesn't like heat in the kitchen anymore than it likes heat outside. if you put it in a hot dish you must do so at the very end of the cooking process-just as you are serving it-or it will not impart any taste.

Back to Veloute.

We melted the butter, added the above veggies, let them get soft and then added the flour. This made our Roux, which we cooked for a while till the flour taste was cooked out. then we added the warm broth to a warm Roux. In about 8 minutes we had a thick beautiful flavorful sauce. Now we seasoned it with salt and white pepper. (regretfully we did not take a picture of the completed sauce-but it is on the fish which was plated in the first picture).

This sauce will hold for a long time so no need to make it just before you server. make it the day before if you want-just thin it with a little broth if needed when you reheat.

This goes over fish or chicken very nicely. Gives a rich creamy texture to everything you put it on.

How simple is THAT to go from blah to WOW! in just a few minutes. Try it-you'll look like a star. And only I will know that it was ever so easy. :)

I'm ruining it for everyone

This isn't the first time I have heard this. Seems everyone is oblivious to some of the devious things people do to commercial food-until you are made aware.

Just this week my friend Marianne told me she had a cake for a birthday celebration and she could taste the lard in the "butter cream" frosting. Guess no one would buy it if they called it "lard cream" frosting. Yes, just the thought...conjures up images of the grease they use in car engines.

Hope I haven't ruined your appetite. :).

Scalloped Potato Perfection

Well no doubt you have many recipes for scalloped potatoes which all seem so simple and the result should be so delectable. But that never seems to happen.

The number one problem with scalloped potatoes is they are undercooked.

The number two problem, they are watery

The number three problem, they are tasteless.

Well-that's quite a resume for a simple little recipe! So let's tackle these one by one.

The Number One complaint about scalloped potatoes? Undercooked.

Most recipes will tell you to take raw sliced potatoes and put then in a casserole dish with your cheese sauce and bake for an hour. That will always lead to hard potatoes. So what to do.... what to do. Well, the obvious answer is bake them longer. However since you have a cheese sauce on them you have to be careful not to over cook them in the oven.

So here's a quick trick. Put your potato slices in the milk you heat up for the Bechamel and let them cook a little in the milk before pouring the milk into the Roux. Then, when you are through making the Bechamel, return it to the sliced potatoes and let them cook a bit more on low heat with the onion in the sauce as well.

When you bake them, make sure they are covered for an hour. Then remove the cover and continue to bake them for about another 1/2 hour. So 90 minutes in all.

Number two complaint: Watery.

Now this one is a little bit of science and a little bit of self control.

When you are making scalloped potatoes, the tendency is to want to get the potatoes peeled and sliced and then soak them in water till you are ready to use them. This feels efficient because you have completed a task which seems benign in its early completion. However this is your first mistake (well maybe reading this blog is your first mistake-but we'll save that for later).

Potatoes have a lot of starch in them and when you soak them you are releasing this starch into the soaking water. Then, when you cook them, there is not enough starch left to thicken the sauce. You will get watery potatoes.

The lesson here is to soak them in the milk you are going to be using. this will allow the starch to release into the same liquid you will be using in the sauce so you won't lose any of that coagulating starch.

The second mistake is not choosing a starchy potato. Each potato has a different level of starch. Baking potatoes are very high in starch. But they lack the ability to absorb flavor very well. So they will cook up well-but won't be all that flavorful.

Red potatoes have almost no starch so would be very watery. They do absorb a lot of flavor though, and this is why they are a good choice for potato salad-but not scalloped potatoes.

Yukon Gold potatoes are fairly starchy and also absorb lots of flavor. They are the best choice for Scalloped Potatoes.

Number Three biggest complaint: They taste dull and flavorless.

This can be the result of several things. First, choosing the wrong potato-a baking potato will not absorb flavor so will be flat. The sauce may be good-but it can't compensate for a flat potato.

Then there is the issue of the sauce. Many recipes have you add milk and that's it. No Roux, no Bechamel. Maybe a little flour-but no Roux. Well that is a double Yuck. First you get no flavor from just the milk, and then you compound the problem by adding flour and not cooking it. Now you have flat flavor with floury after tastes. Now that is what I call Yummy. NOT!

And one of the number one reasons why the potatoes taste flat? You didn't salt the potatoes before cooking. An unsalted potato will suck salt from the sauce and render everything tasteless. Remember-salt is a flavor enhancer-even in nature. So no salt equals no flavor when it comes to a potato (pasta also-but that is another lesson).

So when you peel the potatoes, before you put them in the milk, salt them WELL. Potatoes take a lot of salt. Trust me on this one.

Assuming you have chosen the right potato, go back a few posts and see what I said about making a Roux, then Bechamel. Make the Bechamel and come back here after that.

Assuming you have made a Bechamel, salted your potatoes and soaked them in the milk you were using to make the sauce, and you have them simmering in the finished Bechamel-we can move on.

For a little extra zing, take two peeled garlic gloves and roughly chop them. Add them to the simmering potatoes.

Now prepare your casserole dish. I butter it all over so the crusty edges are even yummier. This will make the potatoes come out of the pan more easily and clean up will be less tedious.

Add some cheese to the simmering milk. My favorite is a combination of Jarlsberg and Gruyere. Just mix in about a cup or more of cheese. Then pour that into your casserole dish. Add more cheese on top till the top is covered with cheese.

If you have a casserole dish with a cover use that-otherwise wrap it tightly in foil and place in a 375 degree oven for an hour. After an hour, remove the foil and continue to cook for another 1/2 hour.

Voila! The perfect Scalloped potato! Um. I could eat some right now. Oh-I think I will-I have some in the freezer. did I mention they freeze well? :).

I Give up

Just so you know-I spend a lot of time trying to get the paragraphing and spacing right on this blog. but it has a mind of it's own. I just wanted everyone to know that I do not support the run on sentence/paragraph society. I really do try. but as soon as I hit "POST" something happens to all my spacing.

I'll keep trying-but there is just so much a girl can do!

Oh, and while we are on the subject-the spell checker on this thing is horrible. It can't even repair hte to be the or ot to be to. I manually correct most words and you can imagine what it thinks of words like Veloute! SO go easy on me when you think I am careless or a moron. it's not my fault-reallllllly! (I mean I may be a moron-but in so many other ways :). )

Cheesey

Yes, the next sauce is "cheesey". Not in the Walmart sort of way, but in the yummy, silky, creamy, tangy sort of way.

In the last post we talked about Roux's. Now we are taking that Roux and making a Bechamel that is the basis for the best scallop potatoes you have had.

Once you have made the Roux, set it aside for about 3 or 4 minutes till it cools just a bit. In the meantime, heat about 2 cups of milk for 5 minutes-or until warm. Add the warm milk to the warm roux. mix well.

Add a pinch of nutmeg, salt and white pepper. White pepper has a different taste than black pepper. it is not as hot-but more spicy. a nice flavor. more subtle yet more flavorful. And with white pepper you won't find little black bits in the sauce.

Continue to stir until the mixture thickens-about 8 minutes. The sauce is ready to use as is-or can be embellished. I like to add an onion half or some shallot quarters to the pot while it is sitting around waiting to be used. this will further flavor the sauce. you will remove these before using the sauce so make sure they are big enough that you can scoop them out.

In the picture above, the sauce is complete and the onion is still in the sauce-see it sticking up. It stays there flavoring the sauce until I decide to use it for something. In this case-scallop potatoes. You can also see some sliced potatoes in the pot where I have added the Bechamel. we will learn why in the next post.

To make a lovely cheese sauce, simply add your favorite cheese. I like Gruyere and Jarlsberg, but some other great tasting cheeses with the Bechamel are Manchego or Gorgonzola. let your imagination run wild.

"roux" the day

Roux Roux Roux. You've heard it, you've seen it, you've tried it. But what happened? usually it either tasted like flour, did not thicken properly or you thought you messed it up and you threw it out.

Let's talk about Roux so you don't rue the day you tried to use a Roux.

First a little about the food channel. You see them make what they call a Roux-but frequently it is a Slagg. This is a Roux that is pourable. A true Roux is NOT pourable. This means that what you thought was ruined was probably right. Look at the picture above-see how it looks lumpy and chunky? that's a Roux.

You can continue to cook this Roux-stirring all the while-until it turns brown and then even black. This will give your finished product a distinctly nuttier taste as it gets darker and darker.

I usually use a blond roux. I think it tastes best for my usual use of a roux which is a base for a Bechamel or a Veloute. But some southern cooking (specifically Cajun-New Orleans type) will use a brown or black roux. Most of the taste of the finished product is determined by the darkness of the roux.

Once you have learned how to make a basic roux-you will learn that you can flavor the roux. During in our class, we made one roux the plain way, and then another roux with cilantro, leeks and celery. You put this right in the roux and cook it (there is a picture of this roux as well-it is the first picture).

And what about cooking it? This is a very important step. You need to cook the roux until all the flour taste is cooked out. Raw flour is not a yummy flavor. This is probably the number one problem with most roux's. They were not cooked thoroughly. The flour taste is bland and then overpowers the lovely flavors you should be getting from the butter and milk or stock you have added to the roux

Most people put the milk in as soon as they mix the butter and flour together. Do not do this--it will leave a distinct four aftertaste in your finished sauce. Cook the Roux thoroughly. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Another common mistake is to add the milk to a hot roux. The milk and the roux should be at about the same temperature. so that means heat your milk a bit and let the roux cool a bit before blending them. Hot roux will separate most of the time and your sauce will not be smooth and creamy. So warm milk and warm roux for a consistent result.

Basic recipe for a Roux:

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup flour (maybe a little more)

melt butter, add flour and cook well (at least 3 minutes) stirring the whole time. add more flour if it is not thick enough. Make sure to continue to cook and stir until all flour is cooked.

It should look thick and lumpy like the picture above (third picture down).

Now you are ready for lesson 2.