Hi Everyone, With the Christmas holidays just weeks away, the shopping craze has begun. We spend a lot of time preparing the house – buying curtains, rugs, mats, furniture, flowers, beddings, Christmas trees, lighting and so on. When it comes to the kitchen, we mostly pay attention to the big-ticket items for cooking – the ham, and meats for roasting – and neglect a supporting cast of other ingredients, tools and equipment that can make our long hours in the kitchen helpful and less stressful. Not to worry, use this column to help get yourself organized.
Pantry
Cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg play a key role in many of the traditional Christmas dishes, therefore, now is a good time to check your stock. Used in both their whole and ground form, it is important that you not only have an adequate supply of these spices, but also that they are fresh, particularly the ground spices. If you have stuff in bottles that’s been at the back of the cupboard for years or that you have forgotten about, they would have lost a lot of their potency so get some fresh spices so that you can impart potent flavour to your food and beverages.
’Tis the season of baking, that means cakes, breads, cookies and pies. Ensure that you have an adequate and fresh supply of flour. Check your sugar too; remember to get both brown and white as some recipes call for the use of either or both. And just like the spices, if you have baking powder, yeast and baking soda that you have not used in ages, get a fresh and sufficient supply.
Essence/extracts add essential flavour to many baked goods and beverages. Get a variety – mixed, almond and vanilla being among the most popular.
While dried fruit such as raisins, currants, cherries and prunes last for a long time, check your stock that you have an ample amount. Eggs are usually high in demand at this time of the year so shop early and buy enough that covers your baking needs as well as breakfast and brunch. There is generally not a limited supply of butter but get more than you need because you can never tell when you will quickly have to whip up a cake or make pastry for a gathering.
Don’t forget the milk! Most recipes call for whole milk – bottled, canned, in cartons or in the form of milk powder. If, like me, you get fresh milk delivered, be sure to order extra milk during the period of the holidays.
Essential
Taken for granted, aluminum foil, parchment paper, greaseproof paper and plastic wrap are indispensable in the kitchen, whether you are baking, cooking or storing. Double up on these or buy them in longer metres, yards or sheets. Don’t worry, these last forever and you won’t have to buy again in a hurry.
One standout use of the aluminum foil is the easy clean up when baking pans are lined; you won’t have to fret about soaking and scrubbing dishes.
Parchment paper saves you having to grease or oil pans for certain things and will make clean up a breeze; all you’ll have to do is discard the paper.
Bags for storage and freezing are crucial for both tasks and really help in organization. They also take up less space when stored.
Check your cupboards for baking pans/tins. If you don’t bake often you might be unaware of what pans you have and do not have. In addition to baking breads, pies, pastries, cookies and cakes, you will also be making roasts and baking other meats. I always like to have a dedicated pan for the ham so that when I want to bake some other meat, immediately after the ham is done cooking I can do so.
Tools & Equipment
I am not telling you to go and buy these items (if you do not already have them). I highlight them because I use them all the time and they pull double-duty in the kitchen.
Rubber/silicone/plastic spatulas make the job of folding ingredients easy. When batters need to be gently handled and to be removed from bowls, spatulas do a perfect job. They also work great when lifting the edges of crepes and omelets without breaking them. These types of spatulas will never scrape your non-stick surfaces and are very useful for prying food out of pans.
Wire racks aka cooling racks can work in and outside of the oven. Perfect for cooling many of your baked items, these racks when placed on top of a sheet pan helps the heat to circulate evenly around whatever is cooked in the oven. Always be guided by the recipe you are using.
In addition to cooling baked items just out of the oven, I also use my wire racks to quickly cool hot potatoes for salad. When I am finished cooking and put the food into dishes, I place them on top of wire racks to quickly cool before refrigerating. Just as in the oven, using the wire racks helps air circulate around the food/dish. Whenever I fry anything, I top a wire rack with kitchen paper to drain off the excess oil. Resting the fried food on the wire rack also means that the grease won’t settle and become soggy with oil as on a solid flat surface; the cooling rack will also keep the cooked food crisp or crunchy, depending what was cooked.
Sheet pans, particularly the 13 x 18-inch rimmed pans are essential to me in the kitchen and they can be for you too. To be quite honest, sometimes I use them more for purposes other than baking in the oven. When seasoning large meats or poultry for roasting, a sheet pan is my work surface. To pat dry and season multiple pieces of seafood, chops or steaks – I use a sheet pan. To spread rice to cool to make fried rice – I use a sheet pan. To assemble multiple ingredients to make one dish, I use a sheet pan. I especially love my sheet pan when I put it in the oven (often lined with foil) upon which I would place items to bake that might spill or bubble over such as macaroni pie or lasagna. Some pans bake evenly when on a solid flat surface, as a result, I always put muffin pans and popover pans on to a baking sheet before adding it to the oven. I do the same thing when I am using a tart pan with a removable bottom. When I’m making individual custards, puddings or crème caramel, all the ramekins are assembled on a sheet pan and then added to the oven. Love, love, love my sheet pans.
Clean up & Make-ahead
It’s a chore I know, but a necessary one – cleaning the fridge and freezer. You will need all the room and space you can find in these two cooling compartments and now is a good a time as any to clean up. There may be jars, bottles and containers at the back of the refrigerator that you have long forgotten that need to be thrown away.
If you tend to put things in the freezer without labelling them, then I am sure you’ll be finding some non-descript things that are hard to identify in their frozen form. Clean it all out and make a big cook and invite some people over; think of it as your pre-holiday get together.
Here are some things that you can make ahead so that you have them in a pinch.
Simple syrups. Plain and or flavoured, simple syrups can be used for drinks, cocktails, as drizzles for cakes, puddings or pies.
Whatever fruits are currently in season, pulp or puree those that you know will work well for smoothies, shakes, sauces (sweet and savoury), puddings, pies and cakes. Passion fruit is currently in season, remove the pulp and freeze (seeds and all). In a couple of weeks, I’ll tell you about a pudding to make for the holidays that everyone will be sure to enjoy.
Measure the fruit purees into ½ and 1 cup portions as that’s what most recipes would call for. If more is needed, then you will use multiple portions.
Buy a couple pounds of garlic and roast them in the oven. Store in an airtight glass jar. Roasted garlic is an ingredient that can add a lot of flavour to many things. Watch out for Stabroek News’ quarterly magazine, Lifestyle, in which you will see recipes that call for roasted garlic. Salad dressings, dips, spreads, meatballs, stuffed eggs and compound butters are all items to which you can add roasted garlic for flavour and texture.
I’ve given you a lot to do here. Feel free to email any questions you may have; even if I do not know the answer, I’ll find out and get back to you. My email address is at the bottom of the column.
Have a great weekend!
Cynthia
