How-To Tuesday! Beef Stock

There is just no way to tell you that making your own stock is easier than using the store bought stuff.  It just isn't. Making stock takes about 5 hours...BUT!  if you are going to be around the house anyway, it is worth the time, and it can save you money too.

To save money, every time you eat beef with a bone, keep it.  Put it in a freezer storage bag and into the freezer. I'm talking steak bones, short ribs, beef ribs, what ever.  We just happened to have some oxtail lounging around in our freezer so that is what we used.  (It's good, trust me!)

Few ingredients are involved in making a good stock, just a large pot and a lot of time.  In the end, though, you've got a great base for a great soup.  In our case French Onion Soup....YUM.

Beef Stock
olive oil
5-6 lbs of beef bones
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large carrots, chopped
2 yellow onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
6 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
6 quarts of water

To begin your stock you first need to roast your bones.  Preheat the oven to 425 F.  Put in your dutch oven so it preheats as well.  Once heated, carefully remove the dutch oven and add a few tablespoons of olive oil to it, then the bones.  Return the pan to the oven and allow the bones to roast for about 45 minutes.

While the bones are happily roasting, melt the butter in a large pan and saute  your onions, carrots, garlic and herbs over medium heat until softened.  Around 5-7 minutes.

Once the bones are done in the oven remove the pan and deglaze it with water over medium high heat.  A cup of water should do it.  Now pour the contents into a large stock pot and add about 6 quarts of water.  Bring the pot to a boil then turn down the heat and allow it to simmer for 4 hours.

Once the four hours are  up, strain the stock through a sieve to remove all the solid bits.  Viola!  Beef Stock! About 4 quarts.  Use it or freeze it for later.  We used it.....

Onion Soup, adapted from Thomas Keller, from the Bouchon cookbook
5 lbs yellow onions
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp all-purpose flour
4 quarts Beef Stock (see above)
freshly ground pepper
sherry wine vinegar
1 baguette
extra virgin olive oil
sliced Emmentaler cheese (or swiss)
1 cup grated Emmentaler cheese (or swiss)

Get ready for a few tears.  The hardest part about this recipe is chopping the onions.  Cut the tops and bottoms off and then slice them in half lengthwise.  Remove the tough outer peel.  Now slice each onion lengthwise in 1/4 inch slices.

Are you done?  OK then, let's move on.  Melt the butter in a large heavy pot or dutch oven over low heat.  Dump in the onions and sprinkle over a tablespoon of kosher salt and toss the onions around.   Cook them for about an hour on low heat stirring every 15 minutes or so.  Once they've "sweated" out the liquid, turn the heat up but only slightly.  Maybe a 2 or 3, you do not want to burn them. Now allow them to cook for 5 hours.  5 HOURS! yeah.  Believe me, these will be the best caramelized onions you have ever tasted.

To make the croutons that go in the soup preheat the broiler and slice the baguette into about 10- 1/2 inch slices. Lay them on a baking tray and brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Broil them until nicely toasted.

Once the onions are golden brown and absolutely delicious, add the flour and saute them for another minute.  Now add them to the completed beef stock. Bring to a simmer and allow the soup to reduce by about a third, around 1 hour.  Taste the soup and add salt and pepper if needed and a teaspoon or two of the sherry vinegar.

Now place your oven-proof soup bowls on a baking sheet, preheat the broiler, and fill the bowls with the soup.  (This makes about 4 large bowls) Add enough croutons to cover the mouth of the bowl, just rest them on top of the soup.  Cover each bowl with the sliced cheese.  You want to leave about 1/2 inch overhang. Top with the grated cheese.

Put them in the broiler for about 2-3 minutes.  Watch them, and pull them out when they look nice and golden brown.

This soup is awesome.  6 hours may seem like a long time but most of it is just downtime.  If you are having a lazy Sunday, try it out.  It really is worth it!

How-To Tuesday! Simple Substitutions

Sorry I'm a little late posting this...I've been having too much fun with my sister!  But better late than never right?Because I really do think this stuff is helpful.  So many times I think people are turned away from cooking because the ingredients are too complicated.  It is so much nicer to be able to cook with what you have on hand rather than running to the store to buy something you know you aren't going to use again any time soon.  I find myself turning to these substitutions often and I appreciate them for making my life easier and for making complicated recipes more simple.

Some simple substitutions that I use on a regular basis:

Buttermilk-  The real thing is amazing and worth buying if you are going to use it, but if you find a great recipe and all you are lacking is buttermilk this works great too.  Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to one cup of milk.  (whole milk is best but others work too)  Stir it in the allow the milk to rest for 5-10 minutes.  Give it another quick stir and add it to your recipe.

Self-rising flour- I keep white whole wheat, all-purpose and cake flours in the house at all times.  For me, three types of flour is more than enough.  If I need self-rising flour I add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to all-purpose flour.  Works like a charm!

Bread flour- Again, this just isn't flour I buy...but I do like to make bread a lot.  Instead of buying more flour I keep a box of vital wheat gluten.  Add 1 teaspoon to a cup of all-purpose flour to make your own bread flour.  The wheat gluten lasts a long time and the little box takes up much less space than a 5lb bag of bread flour.

Chocolate- When baking you'll find recipes that call for unsweetened, sweetened, bittersweet, semi-sweet.....chocolate.  That's a lot of chocolate to keep on hand so most of the time I stick to buying unsweetened chocolate only and I sweeten it myself to suit whichever is called for in the recipe.

**1/2 cup Sweet chocolate - melt 4 oz of unsweetened chocolate (usually 1 square is 1 oz) with 1/3 cup       sugar in a small pan set over another pan of simmering water. (double boiler)

**1/2 cup Semi-sweet chocolate- use the same process as above but only 4 tablespoons of sugar with 4 oz of chocolate.  Bittersweet and semi-sweet can be used interchangeably.

Heavy Cream- for 1 cup use 3/4 cup whole milk and 1/3 cup butter.

Half and Half- for 1 cup use almost a cup of whole milk (about 7/8 cup) and 1 tablespoon of butter

Lemon juice- use 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar to replace 1 teaspoon of lemon juice if necessary.

There really are a ton of these so when in doubt, Google it!  Don't set aside a yummy looking recipe just because you are lacking one item. Happy Cooking!

How-To Tuesday! Bechamel Sauce

There are generally believed to be five "Mother" sauces of French cooking.  These sauces serve as the base for all other sauces. So if you can learn to make these sauces, you can make any sauce!   

The five "Mother" sauces are:

1. Bechamel - a white cream sauce made from butter, flour and milk

2. Veloute - a white sauce made with butter, flour and chicken, veal or fish stock

3. Espagnole - a brown sauce made with butter, flour, tomato paste, veggies and meat stock

4. Hollandaise - a rich yellow sauce made of egg yolks, butter and lemon juice.  

5. Tomato- you guessed it, a red sauce made from tomatoes.

Hopefully I'll get to covering each of them on the blog sometime.  I happen to be in love with Eggs Benedict so Hollandaise is a must.  But for now there is Bechamel.

Bechamel Sauce, from Mario Batali

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 cups milk

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg**

**If you own a microplane buy whole nutmeg, it is so yummy and it is really easy to grate it fresh since it is stored in a glass spice container and keeps for a long time**

To begin, heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  You want the milk to get hot but you don't want it to boil!  Keep a close eye on it. When the milk is starting to feel warm to the touch melt your butter in a large saucepan on medium-low heat. 

Milk heating in the back, butter melting in the front.

Once the butter is melted, turn the heat up to medium and add the flour.  Stir constantly and cook for about 6 to 7 minutes.  The mixture will be a nice golden color.

Now add the hot milk to the butter/flour one cup at a time. Whisk constantly to incorporate it all before adding more milk.  Once all the milk has been added and the sauce is smooth, bring it to a boil...carefully!  Stir it constantly and adjust the heat down if needed so that it doesn't boil over.

Let it boil for about 10 minutes until the sauce is thickened, again stirring constantly.  Remove it from the heat and stir in the nutmeg and salt.  

May not look like much but it is delicious!  Bechamel Sauce is the perfect sauce to use in homemade macaroni and cheese.

Macaroni and Cheese, courtesy of 4 Pears

1 lb cooked elbows

1 lb grated cheese (get creative!  I made an "adult" mac and cheese on Sunday using half mild cheddar and half spicy buffalo wing cheddar)

bechamel sauce from above

20 crushed Ritz crackers, divided

2 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 F. After draining your elbows put the pasta back into the large pot you cooked them in.  Pour over the bechamel sauce, stir in two thirds of the cheese and half of the cracker crumbs.  Pour the pasta into a greased casserole dish and top with the rest of the cheese and then the crackers crumbs.  Dot the top with butter.  Finish with a little salt and a lot of freshly ground pepper.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the top is golden and the cheese is melted.

Before it went into the oven

Sorry there is no "after" picture.  Alex and I literally dug into the dish as soon as it was out of the oven. :P

How-To Tuesday! Pizza Dough

Pizza is one of my favorite things to eat.  Like I said yesterday, it is right up there with Cheeseburgers.  But, for me, there is a big difference between good pizza and bad pizza. I'm not a big fan of delivery pizza and frozen pizzas are pretty bad too.  When I lived in Maryland my favorite was Ledo's.  Its a franchise now but my family has been going there since the original opened in 1955- and growing up we ate Ledo's a lot.  Out here in Las Vegas I like Grimaldi's.  They make coal-fired pizza and the toppings are delicious.  But even though a new Grimaldi's just opened up a few minutes from us, we probably won't be eating there anytime soon.  We just don't take the kids out to restaurants very often yet.  We are such wimps. :P

Instead, to calm my pizza cravings, I learned to make pizza dough!  Sure you can buy it at a lot of grocery stores now, but making it from scratch is really easy and very economical.  Pretty tasty too.

Pizza Dough, adapted from Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy
(makes 2 large pizza crusts)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
4 cups bread flour **
1 Tablespoon olive oil

**If you don't want to by bread flour like me, you can buy wheat gluten to add to all-purpose flour.  Whole Foods sells it.

In a small bowl add the yeast to the warm water.  Stir it in and let it set for about 10 minutes.  You can make this dough in a stand mixer with the dough hook or in a food processor with the dough blade.  Put your flour and the olive oil into either and then turn it on low and add the yeast/water to it as well.  Mix or process until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and sticks together.  It should be nice and smooth when it is done.  Add a little water or flour as needed to get the right texture.  Once it is done put the dough in an oiled glass bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to double in size. It shouldn't take more than an hour.

Split the finished dough in half and either freeze the dough or roll it out on a floured surface to the desired size and shape.  I usually make one large pizza and  freeze the other half of the dough for another day.



Find the perfect sauce (I like this one) and the perfect toppings to make your pizza!  For me, good toppings are just as important as good crust and good sauce.  All three parts are essential to a really good pizza. My favorite toppings are sausage, onions, and fresh tomatoes.  Looks and tastes amazing.  ENJOY!

My masterpiece before it went into the oven.

How-To Tuesday! Buttercream Icing

Birthday coming up?  Make it special and delicious by making some homemade icing!

Buttercream icing is one of the most sinfully sweet creations out there.  It is also simple to make, easy to use, and even very adaptable.  A few simple ingredients and you can say goodbye to the tubs of frosting in the baking aisle.

First, find a kitchen helper or two

Then get out the other ingredients

Buttercream Icing, from Wilton
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening (like Crisco)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners suger
2 tablespoons milk

(this makes about 3 cups of icing)

In your mixer, cream together the butter and shortening.  Add in the vanilla extract and then the sugar, gradually, while on medium speed.  Your icing will look very dry once the sugar is all added but don't worry!  Add the milk and continue mixing until the icing is nice and fluffy.

You can refrigerate the icing in an airtight container for up to two weeks!  You just need to toss it back in the mixer before using to fluff it up again.

If you would prefer Chocolate icing add 3/4 cup cocoa powder and another tablespoon or two of milk. Craving Peanut Butter?  Just add 3/4 cup peanut butter to the original recipe along with a few more tablespoons of milk.  Wilton has a ton of great recipes and ideas on their website; I'm looking forward to trying a few more. :)

How-To Tuesday! Vinaigrette

Salad dressing is expensive! A good brand often costs around $5.00 and then you are stuck with it until it is gone. Which, for us, is a while. I love salads, especially in the summer, but we rarely make a traditional green salad. Instead we make bean salads, cucumber salad, potato salad, even coleslaw and each has a vinaigrette to dress it with because I prefer vinegar based salads to creamy salads most of the time.  They tend to be lighter and healthier, and honestly?  I just really love vinegar.  I love the acidity and bite.  I'm originally from Maryland after all, home of Boardwalk Fries which are served only with salt and malt vinegar, hon.

A traditional vinaigrette is three parts oil and one part acid, most commonly lemon juice or vinegar.  To this you can add just about anything: garlic, shallots, mustard, herbs, peppers, honey, etc. etc.   Since I'm such a vinegar lover, my ratio is usually closer to 2 parts oil, 1 vinegar.  But if you want a lower acid vinaigrette you can do 4 to 1 too.  You can make it to suit any taste, that's what makes it great!

Balsamic Vinaigrette
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Balsamic vinaigrette is super popular and super pricey in the grocery store.  To whip some up in no time in your own kitchen pour the vinegar into a bowl and while whisking, slowly pour in the olive oil at a steady slow stream.   Season with salt and pepper.  Now taste it!  If you want it more acidic, add some more vinegar!  If it has too much bite, add some more oil!  You may even want to sweeten it with a bit of sugar.  Make sure to whisk it fast and to make it right before you use it because, well you know, oil and water don't mix.  It can and will separate.  If it does, shake it up or whisk it again before serving.

Tomorrow I'll share a recipe for a Greek Couscous Salad that uses a lemon vinaigrette; come back and check it out!

How-To Tuesday! Hard-boiled Eggs

I love eggs.  I can eat them all day.  I LOVE quiche, egg salad, eggs benedict could be the best breakfast ever...you get the point.  We go through a ton of eggs here at the Four Pears household.  You can do so much with an egg!  But the basic skill?  How to hard-boil one.

"I can't even boil an egg!"  It's a popular cliche for not being able to cook but whether you can cook or not, cooking a hard-boiled egg might be intimidating.  Intimidating because there are a bunch of ways to do it and God forbid you do it wrong...yuck.  Green egg yolks are gross.  And getting the shells off isn't fun either.  Unless you know a quick little trick.  Here's how to get a perfect hard-boiled egg every time.

Hard-boiled Eggs
eggs
water

Gently put the eggs in a pan and fill so the eggs are covered by one inch of water.  You can do as many as can fit or as few as just one. Bring the water to boil.  Once boiling, remove the pot from heat, cover and set it aside for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile prepare an ice bath.  Fill a bowl with some ice and cold tap water.  Once the 10 minutes are up, put the eggs straight into the bath.  The ice water stops the cooking process but it also helps get the shells off!  Once cool peel them by tapping one end in the sink or on the counter.  The cold water should have loosened the shell so that it comes right off.   If the egg is cooked properly when you cut it in half the white will be solid and the yolk will be cooked through evenly and bright yellow.  Hard-boiled eggs perfect for making egg salad or deviled eggs (recipe tomorrow)!  A great snack for the kiddos or maybe a rushed mom in need of a protein boost.

How-To Tuesday! Ricotta Cheese

You might not guess it but Ricotta Cheese is so easy to make!  All you need is some milk, cream, and vinegar or lemon juice.  The result is so fresh and creamy; it really puts the store bought stuff to shame!  This is a great  way to amp up your favorite lasagna recipe...or maybe the ravioli recipe I'm posting tomorrow?

Fresh Ricotta Cheese - adapted from Epicurious.com
2 quarts whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp. white vinegar

In a large pot over medium heat, slowly bring the milk, cream and salt to a boil.  Stir occasionally.  Meanwhile, line a colander with cheesecloth and put it into a clean sink.  Once the milk is boiling, add the vinegar and reduce the heat to low.  While stirring, allow the pot to simmer until curds begin to form.  That takes only about 2 minutes!  At that point remove the pot from heat and pour it into the colander.  Let the cheese drain for about an hour.

Gather the cheese cloth together above the curds and twist to squeeze out any remaining liquid.  Put the ricotta into a storage container with lid and keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.  It only keeps for about two days so use it soon!

If you are a big fan of Indian food like Alex and I, once drained, press the cheese into the bottom of a square storage container.  When it is cold cut it into cubes....homemade paneer!  You can brown the paneer in a frying pan with a  little oil and serve it with some Tikka Masala sauce and rice for a great vegetarian dinner.

How-To Tuesday! Whipped Cream

Whipped cream is a nice addition to just about any dessert!  But don't grab that can of redi-whip or the tub of cool whip just yet...this stuff is quick and easy to make. Homemade whipped cream is so simple and it tastes so much better than the processed stuff.

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream

2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Put all the ingredients into your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on high until the cream looks shiny and forms stiff peaks. Serve with a slice of pie or fold into a delicious lemon mousse...but that's for tomorrow. :)

How-To Tuesday! Brining

I made my first brine when I was doing my first Thanksgiving turkey.  My motto is obviously, go big or go home.  Luckily it was a huge success. The brine gave the turkey so much flavor and it was so juicy.  A friend who shared the holiday with us always talks about how much turkey he ate that day.  It was just that good.  With the success of the turkey, I started to think about what else I could brine.  Like those frozen pork chops that we purchased in bulk from the local warehouse club that we had been less than enthusiastic about cooking.  I brined that pork for a couple of hours... and MAGIC!  Brining really is super easy and an almost fool-proof way to come away with some pretty amazing, juicy, meat.

Water, Salt, Sweet.   That’s all you really need.  You can sub honey for the sugar if you want.  Then add whatever spices you are in the mood for, or even some veggies.  I like to add rosemary, sage and thyme.  We grow those in the backyard so it is easy to snip off a couple of leaves and sprigs and add them in. 

Basic Brine, adapted from Bouchon by Thomas Keller

1 gallon of water
1 cup of Kosher Salt
½ cup of brown sugar

4 sprigs Rosemary

6-12 Bay leaves

2 Tbsp. Peppercorns

1 bunch of Thyme

6-12 leaves of Sage

Put all ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to a boil.  Let boil for just a minute and then turn off the heat and allow it to cool down.  Once it is cool, put your meat into the pot and put the pot into the refrigerator.  A good rule of thumb is to let your meat sit in the brine for 1 hour per pound, if you go longer the meat may come out salty, I know because I have had salty pork from over brining- not good.  After you take the meat out of the brine, rinse it, pat it down and then cook it as you would normally.  But remember, if you add herbs or other spices to your brine the meat will pick up these flavors, so there is no need to season as much as you usually would.  Just a bit of salt and pepper should do. 

Get ready for the world’s best brined-chicken recipe tomorrow!

How-To Tuesday!

Welcome to How-To Tuesday! Every week we are going to post a “basic” cooking skill, technique or tip. Something easy to do that you can build on to make great things! We’ll do everything from how to hard-boil an egg to making simple vinaigrette. I hope these are fun and helpful!

First off: Homemade mayonnaise, it has become a slight obsession of mine. After finding out how easy it is to make and how much more tasty it is, I have forbidden the purchase of it at the grocery store. Even after my wife pleaded for just a small jar. Why buy it!?! You can make mayonnaise in about 5 minutes. Here’s how:

Classic Mayonnaise

Equipment needed: whisk + elbow grease or food processor (I prefer the food processor for this one)

Ingredients:

3 Egg Yolks
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard or Vinegar
2 cups of Vegetable or Canola Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place the egg yolks and mustard into the food processor and turn on to blend for 30 seconds to one minute.

With the food processor still on, SLOWLY add the oil. I like to use a basic funnel for this so I don’t get the oil everywhere but if you have steady hands just pour directly into the opening of the machine.

You should see the oil and egg yolk starting to combine. BUT If you add the oil too fast it won’t get absorbed correctly and the eggs will split and you will be upset. ( I was….several times) After a minute if all is well you will see mayonnaise! (Don't be alarmed by the amount of mayo in this pic, I doubled the recipe!)

Stop the food processor, taste the mayonnaise, then season with salt and pepper. Turn the processor back on to mix for another 30 seconds. This recipe makes a little over 2 cups of mayonnaise and it will last about 10 days in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Trust me, this will totally amp up that potato salad you are supposed to bring to this weekend’s BBQ! Ina Garten makes our favorite potato salad to date, click here for her recipe.