Kitchen Tips

Self-Rising Flour – – make it yourself

March 13, 2015 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

I have this great Lemon Easter Cake that I want to make next week. It calls for self rising flour. I don’t want to buy a 5 pound bag that will then sit in my pantry for months before I throw it out. And since I don’t have a lot of recipes that call for self-rising flour, the chances of that happening are pretty good.

So there I was racking my brain about anything I might know about self-rising flour when I remembered something I had read in a cookbook long ago. Ya–I read cookbooks.

Unlike pastry flour or bread flour, you can make your own self-rising flour…and you can make the exact amount that you need when you need it. No waste. I love it.

Gather together: all-purpose flour, double-acting baking powder and salt. Make sure that your baking powder is fresh. I try to use mine within a 6 month period, hence I buy slightly smaller cans.

Using the portions listed below in the recipe section, sift the ingredients through a sifter or a colander. It’s important that the baking soda and salt are well distributed throughout the flour. I needed to make 3 cups of self-rising flour so I layered my ingredients as they went in the colander. I started with flour, added baking soda, then salt and then repeated the process before I started sifting. This ensures a better distribution of the baking soda and salt. If there are lumps when you are done, break them up and get them in there. Once the ingredients are well sifted take a whisk to it for good measure.

Now–go buy some eggs, butter and lemons…we are making a cake next week!

Self-Rising Flour - - make it yourself

Make is yourself and you won't have a bog of self-rising flour sitting in your pantry taking up space for months and months...

Author: Shanon

Ingredients

To Make 1 cup of Self-Rising Flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons double acting baking powder (fresh...old baking powder just won't cut it here)
½ teaspoon salt
To make 3 cups of Self-Rising Flour
3 cups all-purpose flour
1½ tablespoons double acting baking powder
1½ teaspoons salt

Instructions

If you are making more than one cup of self-rising flour, layer the ingredients by first putting in a cup of flour, sprinkling in some of the baking powder and salt and then repeating that process.
Sift together to remove large lumps. Be careful here... if the lump is baking powder break it up and get it through the sifter. The baking powder is the big star here.
Once it has been sifted into a bowl, whisk it together well.
For best results use it within a couple of months.

Pre-cutting a dessert – – – Keeping it beautiful

February 18, 2015 by Shanon Balser 1 Comment

I love a good kitchen tip. They save time, money and frustration.

I get frustrated when I have made/decorated something and it looks soooooo pretty and then I have to cut it before I even get to present it at a party or event.

So–before you ice or decorate something–cut it. Finish icing it. Decorate it to perfection. Take it to your party and gently pull a few pieces loose so that guests get the idea. Your masterpiece will stay intact while it disappears!

Freezing Steak Strips

February 3, 2015 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

I’ll probably repeat this sentence a few times over the course of this blog. I don’t love working with meat. Let me rephrase that. I do not love cleaning up after trimming raw meat. It’s bothersome. I am ready to rock and roll and make something great and I am stuck cleaning and wiping and making sure no little bacteria’s have scampered off to reek havoc on the next dish I make. So I like to handle the raw meat once in preparation for using it for several dishes. Additionally if I happen across a great little flank steak on sale, but it’s not on the menu, I buy it and rather than freezing it whole or rearranging my menu plan, I prep it for easy use later.

My family loves steak sandwiches, steak nachos, steak fajitas, stroganoff, beef stir fry….well you get the point. I bet your family does as well. I’m making steak nachos in a few days, you will want to check back for that recipe!

This is how I suggest freezing steak strips. Take a minute and rinse the steak. Pat it dry and lay it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Pop it in the freezer for about one hour. This makes the meat just firm enough to slice easily with a sharp knife. Genius.

Remove the meat from the freezer and quickly cut it, cross grain, into thin strips. I like to leave them in long strips because it gives me the option to cut it further later, or use it in all its long marbled fat glory.

Now, lay the cut strips on your parchment lined baking sheet, in a single layer, and put them in the freezer until they are firm. This takes about an hour. Add any seasonings you might like; I freeze mine just as they are so that I keep the variety of future use wide open.

Put the frozen strips in a freezer bag and store them in the freezer until you are ready to use them. I like to use them within a few months. Let’s be honest… sliced prepared steak…busy schedules… this meat is not hanging out in the freezer for long. It’s easy to grab a handful and start cooking! According to the FDA steak can remain frozen for 6 to 12 months. Remove as much air from the bag as you can and if you know you won’t be using it in the near future overwrap it with freezer paper or double bag it. Remember, for this post we are not thawing a steak, slicing and freezing. We are working with a fresh piece of meat, freezing only until it becomes firm and then continuing the freezing process. Does that make sense. We don’t want to thaw, freeze, thaw freeze…. well you get the idea. If you have questions on this do some research on that FDA link.

**I use the parchment I have lined the pan with to put layers between some of the meat.

Now, with all that steak trimmed and ready to use, you are armed and dangerous. Beef up that dinner menu for the week. Pun intended 🙂

Crushed Peppermint

January 20, 2015 by Shanon Balser 2 Comments

Confession. I have a unique hobby. I love to visit my favorite cooking/baking websites and shop. I fill my cart with all kinds of gadgets and fun baking supplies. It’s therapeutic for me. What’s so strange about that you may ask? Well, I almost never buy the items in my cart. In the end, as I sit there chewing on my lower lip trying to decide if I should buy all those lovely items… it sometimes seems too expensive or I wonder if I will ever use whatever it is that I have whimsically selected for my cart. My husband gets the biggest kick out of this part of my personality. But.. where I might not feel comfortable going to a physical store and browsing for hours without shelling out a dime, I can wander to my hearts content on an online store.

Recently I had crushed peppermint in my virtual cart. In fact it found it’s way there on several “trips” to my online hangouts. It looks delicious and fun…and a bit expensive. As I was putting away the last remnants of Christmas I ran across 2 lonely looking candy canes. I thought of my often filled and abandoned cart. I thought about putting those 2 candy canes to good use. They would be great mixed with cookie dough, sprinkled on ice cream, mixed with hot chocolate or adorning a cupcake. I put them front and center on the counter so that I would not forget to crush them. A little later I went back to crush those canes into submission and my husband had left me a love note:

To crush your leftover candy canes, locate a clean jar, a plastic bag that seals, a piece of parchment and a mallet of some sort. Fold a piece of parchment in half and slip it inside the bag. This will become a double layer so that the bag doesn’t split open when you are taking out your aggression on the candy! Unwrap your candy canes and break them into a about 3 inch pieces. Place them in the middle of the folded parchment and place them in the freezer for about half an hour. This helps the candy become especially brittle.

Now we get to crush the candy. There’s no need to get super ambitious here. Just work a little at a time until you have the consistency that you want. I personally don’t love huge chunks of crunchy peppermint candy so I worked until I had the consistency of sand with just a few larger pieces interspersed.

Pretty, pretty, pretty….

Remove it from the parchment and bag and store it in a small jar with a seal. Use it to flavor your hot chocolate or sprinkle it about on your baked goods!

Fun–and now you don’t have to wonder what to do with all those leftover candy canes on your counter! I think I’ll start warming the milk for the hot chocolate, grab my ipad and do a little light shopping.

If you find you are not up to all that hard work–or if you threw away your candy canes just yesterday–one place you can find crushed peppermint is at King Arthur Flour.

Crushed Peppermint

Wondering how to get the best crush out of those leftover Christmas candy canes?

Author: Sweet Suppertime

Recipe type: Kitchen Tips

Ingredients

2-4 large candy canes

Instructions

Place a piece of parchment, folded in half, inside a seal-able plastic bag.
Unwrap candy canes and break into 3 inch pieces.
Place the candy between the parchment paper and place in the freezer for at least one half hour.
Remove from the freezer and using a mallet, begin hitting the candy until it is the consistency you desire.
Place in a small jar with a lid and store for use with cupcakes, hot chocolate, cookies etc.

Seeding a Pomegranate

November 24, 2014 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

I used to avoid any recipe that involved pomegranate. The daunting task of seeding the finger-staining fruit was enough to make me toss out even the most tempting recipes. That was until I discovered this method. I found this tip in the newspaper, it was a footnote in a holiday recipe containing pomegranate seeds in the life & style section. This quick and clean method of seeding has opened up the world of pomegranates to my culinary palate.

Start with a knife, wooden spoon, and large bowl. A larger bowl will make for less mess.

Begin by slicing the pomegranate in half. To me the pomegranate has a top. I am slicing this in the middle of what I would call the top and the bottom. Yes, some of those juicy little seeds will be sacrificed in the name of ease, but they taste equally delicious in your salad or smoothie.

Next, hold the pomegranate over the bowl and hit it with the back side of the spoon repeatedly.

All the delicious seeds will fall into the bowl and you’ll be left with two empty halves.

And there you have it, a mess free way to seed a pomegranate. Enjoy using these tasty seeds in your holiday dishes!

Filling A Decorating Bag

November 1, 2014 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

Sometimes I find that I need an extra set of hands around the kitchen. In the case of filling a decorating bag with frosting I like to get out a large cup — and cuff the bag over the edges of the cup so that I can drop the frosting into the bag easily. In this photo I am using a really large decorating bag so I had to scrounge around for a very tall cup. In fact the bag is so large I can’t quite cuff it over the top, but you get the idea….