Useful Techniques and Tips In Baking Potatoes

One of the most enticing and evocative kitchen smells is that of the baked potato. Its association with childhood and most particularly with Bonfire Night keeps it forever as something of a treat. It remains too a comfort food but one that can be transformed daily with a different stuffing.

The jacket potato is The Great Standby and The Complete Meal. Treated simply with a pinch of salt and a generous dollop of butter its a pauper's supper fit for a king. With a liberal grating of mature Cheddar cheese is even better. After Christmas it really comes into its own. When served with pickles, a couple of crunchy baked potatoes make the prospect of unlimited cold turkey almost seem attractive.

In France they call the jacket potato pommes de terre au four - au four for short - or most often robe de chambre, a corruption of the original robe des champs (of the fields), meaning in their skins as they were grown. Many French chefs use the flesh of potatoes for making pommes purée because the steam-cooking makes for dry potato flesh. It also breaks down the flesh of their waxy potato varieties.

Perhaps because the French don't go in for the mealy variety of potato which is best suited to baking, their potatoes tend to be elaborately stuffed. These potatoes are usually called pommes de terre farcies. They are prepared by partial baking then the flesh is scooped out, mixed with the stuffing and returned for a final baking. The potato becomes a vehicle for very fanciful combinations and is a very different animal from the potato baked in the embers of the dying bonfire.

The secret of perfect baked potatoes is to put the potatoes into a very hot oven; from 400-425F/200-220C/gas mark 7) and to cook them for a minimum of 1 hour. The exact length of time depends on the size of the potato and the number of potatoes being cooked - they will take longer the more there are. Any variety of potato will taste good baked but mealy varieties are best. The starch expands under the intense heat and the potato becomes fluffy on the inside and with a nice crisp skin: the combination that makes the potato such a delight. Some people rub salt or oil into the washed skin to make it crispy but I rather like the nutty flavour that is most prevalent if the skin is merely washed. Also good is the burnt flesh edge of halved potatoes. If you favour a soft skin, wrap the potato in foil.

To allow the steam to escape cut the potato with a cross or prick it a few times with a fork. Potatoes can be partially cooked in advance and finished to order, this is especially useful to remember when providing baked potatoes for a party. In fact in his delightful Cooking In Ten Minutes Edouard de Pomiane recommends keeping a stock of baked potatoes for making instant meals.

BEST VARIETIES FOR BAKING 

With the exception of Marks and Spencer's potatoes, avoid those over-sized polythene and expanded polystyrene-wrapped baking potatoes now on every supermarket shelf. The following floury varieties are the best: Cara, Desiree, Mans Piper, Pentland Squire, Pentland Crown and Pentland Dell, Willa, Romano, King Edward and Golden Wonder. A 7 oz (200 g) potato served with a modest amount of butter or sunflower margarine has approximately 170 calories. Contrary to popular belief, baked potatoes are not overly fattening; it's the topping or the filling that's the culprit!

Interested to start your own baking? Try this Basic Baked Potato recipe and I am sure you would find it so simple to do!

Find out more things about Vegetable Recipes and Cooking Tips. Check out All Vegetable Recipes for more information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Clance_Lee

Chef Hats and Chef Whites: Where Did They Come From?

Professional chefs still wear the tall, starched white hat as part of their uniform. Known as a toque, pronounced 'tock', the hat stops hair falling in the food and keeps sweat from the face. The height is to allow air to circulate and keep the head cool. Considered the pride of some kitchens and a pompous addition by others, where did they originate from?

Stroke a cook's ego to survive!

Historically a cook has held great power over their master by threat of poisoning their food. Wealthy men lived in paranoia and sought to empower their valued chef's by pandering to their ego with a look-a-like crown hat. This seemingly simple gesture elevated the cook to his masters level and prevented certain death through respect. Apparently.

Cooks were learned men in danger of their lives

In 7th century Greece cooks were learned men by means of having to read and record recipes. To be learned in ancient times was to have potential power and left them open to persecution by fear of the ignorant. The cooks sought refuge in monasteries and adopted the monk's black ropes and caps to blend in. This in time evolved into a white version. So not to offend God, of course.
The same story is repeated during the 17 century Baroque period, when you could almost be burnt at the stake for wearing your hair in the wrong fashion. Cooks were considered artisans possessing food alchemy skills; and therefore considered aligned with witchcraft. A natural association. The cooks took asylum in the Catholic cathedrals and adopted tall, white hats to mingle with the clergy. Again, holy men wore light grey - cooks wore white. No confusion with God.

Burn the soup and lose your head

Another infamous tale is that of the unfortunate cook of Henry VIII. The said chef apparently shed a hair in the gluttonous King's meal and was swiftly beheaded. A law ruling chefs wore hats was quickly voted in and the next nervous cook to step up gratefully accepted.

The original celebrity chef

In 19 Century France cooks became chefs and were held in great reverence. The toque blanche (white hat) evolved from french cooks' stocking caps; its earliest adoption being attributed to Marie Antoine Careme and Auguste Escoffier. Both being the original celebrity chefs of their day.

Big ego, Big chef hat

Carême's kitchen had different hats for each station denoting hierarchy, the height corresponding to rank. The ultimate echelon of Chef de Partie or Head Chef donned a magnificent, towering, starched affair with the number of pleats relating to how many ways you could cook an egg. Carême wore an impressive 18 inches with 100 pleats.

Professional chef whites and uniforms

Carême also standardised uniforms, introduced the double-breasted jacket and promoted cleanliness and pride. Escoffier trod in Carême's footsteps by insisting on the departure of smoking, drinking and swearing in the kitchen. He also endorsed education and the attire of jackets and ties off duty, encouraging professionalism from his brigade.

Of course we still see many influences of Carême and Escoffier in kitchens today with an abstinence of swearing, smoking and professional behaviour off duty. Ahem. (Obviously excluding the kitchen of Gordon Ramsey and Marco Pierre white.)

If you fancy yourself as a celebrity chef in the making York Catering Supplies have everything you need including Chef whites and clothing to look the part.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marco_Mackgill

How To Hire The Best Private Chef For Your Rental Estate

The best way to hire a private chef for your rental estate / property is to speak to your luxury booking agent. This could either be the concierge services you are using, the estate manager, or your luxury travel agent. Often times your estate / rental property already has a list of reputable chef's they can recommend for your culinary needs.

However, being a private chef myself I can also offer some insight and guidance to hiring the best private chef while on vacation. If you are renting the estate you have the right to use whatever chef you like to complete your culinary services while under contract. Although the estate has rules the chefs and outside vendors must adhere to while on the property you can still select another chef that is not "recommended" or "approved" by the estate. Often times rental estates select or recommend chefs which offer a bounce back commission for booking your services. This can often lead to the chef not being the best available or offer the most top-notch dinning experience for you and your guests.

Some tips I can share with you are to always ask if the person recommending the chef has tasted their food. This will absolutely clue you into if they are referring the work for an alternative reason besides offering you the best experience while on vacation. Most estates & vacation rentals goal is to provide the best experience possible for their customers so in most cases you have nothing to worry about and they are referring the chefs they are because they have had wonderful feedback from other clients are trust worthy. Regardless you should ask to see the chefs website so you can assess if this is the right chef for you and your guests based on their style of cooking, brand equity and feel of the website. Look for customer testimonials and specifically estate testimonials, which highlight the private chefs culinary techniques, service standards, and overall customer experience.

In my 17 years experience as a chef in Hawaii many return customers I have serviced are often disappointed with the chef they received while staying at an estate because they didn't meet or exceed their expectations. The best words of advice I can give anyone looking to hire a private or personal chef while renting a vacation estate is to clearly outline your expectations and make sure that you clearly communicate them with the property. Tell the person in charge that you want to interview or speak to the chefs they recommend yourself to insure they will provide you with the type of services and standards you are expecting. Should you feel any doubt visit reputable private chef websites and look for additional recommendations until you find the chef that is right for you and your family and most importantly never let the estate dictate your final decision as they may have more invested in it than your best interests!

Covert Affairs is a private chef company in Honolulu, Hawaii. Ryan Covert is both the owner and head chef of Covert Affairs, which caters to both locals and celebrities alike. His dynamic cooking style is a global celebration with a highlight on Asian-Pacific, Mediterranean, and Caribbean cuisines, making him the Private Chef Hawaii prefers. For a unique affair on the islands look no further than Covert Affairs Honolulu personal chef services. For a full list of private chef services, customer testimonials, client lists, menu options, to view his published recipes or to read his restaurant and wine blog visit him at - http://covertaffairs.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ryan_Covert

Five Reasons to Get a Kitchen Bagging Device

You love to cook, or maybe you just love to eat. No matter how often you buy groceries or bring home leftovers from your favorite restaurant, you know that food storage is important if you tend to store it more often than you eat it. For those limited on refrigerator and freezer space, stocking up on plastic containers may not be the best solution for you as you plan our your weekly meals, but plastic food storage bags only do so much to keep your food fresh. What is the solution?

Purchasing a quality device that seals kitchen bags so that the air is removed is perhaps one of the best investments you can make for your home. It is known that if food is exposed to the elements long enough, the freshness will decrease and the food will eventually deteriorate. Leave bananas out for a while and you will see how quickly they brown and eventually spoil. Even in a refrigerator, food that isn't properly sealed will grow fuzz and turn inedible. To make sure your food lasts longer - in the freezer, fridge, or pantry - it needs to keep a tight seal with no air inside.

So, now that you know that oxygen is the enemy when it comes to keeping treats fresh, are there other benefits to having a kitchen bag sealing device? You'll be surprised to know there are many uses beyond keeping food in storage:

1) Prepare lunches in advance. Whether packing for one person for a week or several people for an event, sandwich bread stays soft until it's time to eat.

2) Keep fruit slices from turning color. The second you slice an apple you need to eat it quickly before it browns. Keep it sealed, though, and the freshness lasts.

3) Great for portion control. If you are dieting and want to portion out cereal or other foods, you can store them in airtight bags.

4) Keep other products fresh. If you roll your own cigarettes, you can keep loose leaf tobacco from getting stale with an airtight bag.

5) Great for packing and long trips. Store medicines and snacks and make more space in your luggage as you pack.

Having a bagging device for home is a great way to manage what you eat, store foods for long periods of time, and prepare ingredients in advance for weeks' worth of menus. Consider investing in an airtight bagger today for fresher food tomorrow.

Kathryn Lively is a freelance writer specializing in articles on food storage bags and food storage products.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathryn_Lively

Outdoor Cooking Methods

There are many reasons you may want to use one of the many outdoor cooking methods for your meals. Maybe you are going camping or you just want to grill outside in your backyard. Whatever your reason for using the outdoor techniques for cooking you need to understand what a few of them are and how they are can help you cook the proper type of food for you and your family.

You can choose from grilling with a few different types of grills to cooking over an open fire. It all depends on what you want to cook and why you have decided to cook outside. Below you are going to find a few different ways for cooking outside to choose from.

1. Gas Grill Cooking

One of the most popular methods of cooking outside is with a gas grill. This grill will take either natural gas or propane, which will be your main source of fuel for cooking. You may want to supplement the gas heat with wood chips so you can get more flavor since you are cooking with gas.

There are many advantages you will get when you cook with gas. It is one of the most convenient ways to cook because all you have to do is uncover your grill, flip a switch, and start cooking. It barely takes 10 minutes for your grill to get hot enough to cook on and compared to other outdoor cooking methods this is very fast.

Another great thing about cooking with a gas grill is the cleanup. It is very easy to clean a gas grill because there are no ashes or mess from charcoal dust or wood. You can let your grill stay hot for ten minutes after you are done cooking and scrape it down a bit and you will be all set. The heat will clean the grill on its own quite well.

The only downside to cooking with a gas grill is that you are going to taint the flavor of the food you cook with the gas a little bit. This doesn't bother most people and you can use wood chips to help give your food a bit more flavor. If you use wood chips make sure you soak them in water for a while before you put them on the grill.

2. Charcoal Grill

A charcoal grill may be a better way to cook if you don't want to taint the flavor of your food. There is nothing like getting that good smoky flavor into your food from the grill. Plus charcoal grills are much cheaper than gas grills because they are much simpler. There are many benefits to using a charcoal grill.

You can still use wood chips to help add flavor to your food and if you get the right tools you can light the charcoal and be ready to cook in about 20 minutes. This is a great way to cook outside if you don't want to use gas, but you want to grill out anyway. You can lock in the great smoky flavor by using a charcoal grill and in most cases it is not as expensive.

Clean up is a bit more strenuous than using a gas grill, but most charcoal grills will have a way that you can dump the dust and ashes pretty easily. This is not much different than unhooking the tank from a gas grill every time it needs to be filled. You will have better tasting food with a more natural flavor with this outdoor cooking method.

3. Over an Open Wood Fire

If you are camping or you have a fire pit in your backyard another choice would be to cook over an open flame with a wood fire. This can allow you to keep the food tasting wonderful and cook in many different ways. You can take advantage of cooking things like cobblers in a Dutch oven or cooking many other dishes with the tools that are made for cooking over an open fire.

When you are camping and you are using a fire to cook most of your meals you can boil many things with simple pots and pans that are made for cooking. However, there are also tools that will allow you to build a pocket style sandwich and put it into the fire to cook. This is great for a pizza type of sandwich or anything else that can be toasted.
Many campers prefer to boil most of the food, but with an open fire you can roast marshmallows, hotdogs, and many other foods with a simple skewer that is long enough to put into the fire without burning your hand. There are many tools to help you cook food while camping and the most natural way to cook outside is over an open fire.

The outdoor cooking method you choose will have a lot to do with what you plan to do with your food. If you are simply cooking outside in your backyard choosing a grill type and cooking is much different than if you are camping out. Campers need more equipment and they have many choices for the tools they can use to cook over an open fire or even with gas burners.

If you want to keep your food tasting as natural as possible you will want to avoid using gas and stick with an open wood fire or charcoal. This is also the way you want to go if you are going to be smoking some type of meat. The smoky flavor comes from the charcoal or the wood you are using and if you use gas it will taint the flavor of the meat you are cooking.

It is up to you what type of cooking you want to do outside and if you are looking for something that is convenient and fast, then a gas grill is the best choice. However, if you are after flavor and you are not concerned about saving time you can either use a fire pit or a charcoal grill for your outdoor cooking needs.

If you want more helpful cooking articles like this one, check out our website's blog. We also provide great information about food processor reviews and how to choose the best food processor for baby food.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_Gandhi

Plastic Food Storage: Reasons Why You Should Buy

Plastic food storage containers are preferred by a lot of people because of many reasons. Here we will go through each of them so that you will understand why you should invest some of your money to buy them especially if you are a food lover or in the food business. Let us know what are they made of first. They are created from high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene and polypropylene. They are very popular since they are a favored choice of restaurants, cafeterias, household kitchen, snack bars etc. Below are the reasons in which this is a great item to others.

Plastic food storage keeps your food fresh. It maintains room temperature of both hot and cold food. So you don't worry about spending money at the grocery store and purchasing ingredients that you think will spoil because they aren't stored properly. You end up with fresh provisions until the time you need to use them for cooking and preparing your meals, thus saving you the hassle of buying ingredients every once in a while.

As we all do, we like saving money. You can save some of a handful of cash when you are using plastic containers. They can be re-washed and reused and still keep the food fresh for long periods of time. It is also unbreakable, easy to use and prevents causes of environmental contamination. They are affordable, plus, convenient to put in refrigerators and freezers.

It lasts longer than other containers since plastic is made to last for a very long time. This will save you from buying new ones every now and then. This will save you money, effort and time since they can be used over and over again. It is microwave-safe, lightweight, sticks to strict FDA requirements, and you can serve take-out food without any spillage or leakage.

Plastic Food Storage containers can be easily put atop of each other. You can arrange them depending on the ingredients you put inside. Example, arranging cooked from raw ingredients. You can easily know which container has what. Now, you don't need to scurry all over your fridge since they can be easily organized from one another.

These are the reasons why you should buy your own container. Let yourself be free from the hassles of keeping your foods properly stored and safe. You can cook delicious meals without worrying if your ingredients went bad. Plus, you are saved from going to the grocery stores very often. Thanks to the container, you have made your cooking and preparing meals a whole lot easier.

Learn more about Plastic Food Storage

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liza_Mackinze

Kitchen Design Space Savers

No matter the size of your kitchen it is often the case that you just do not feel like you have enough room! But there is a huge array of innovative space savers that you could incorporate into your next kitchen design to make even the smallest kitchen seem reasonably large.

One quick tip - before you go buying a kitchen with any of the space saving (or should I say maximising?) devices discussed below, spend some time on kitchen design software or kitchen planner software to lay out your kitchen, place your units, sink and other necessities. You will save yourself money and heartache that way!

So how about those space maximising ideas then? Well, there are, of course, various corner cupboard styles that give you more storage space, such as carousels. But storage is one thing, it is actual working areas and surfaces that people find they don't have enough of, especially when they are cluttered up with the kettle, microwave, toaster and other essential but fairly large items.

You have got to make the most of what you have. The sink also takes away a sizeable chunk of workspace. But what if you could turn that into more work surface? Kohler UK have introduced an innovative sink that does just that.

The sink itself is pretty standard, but you can fit a sliding chopping board and sliding condiment holders onto the rim which gives you more space but leaves access to a portion of the sink for washing and disposal. As the board fits snugly into the work surface and rests on the rim, it is not an ugly addition either, it looks just like part of the rest of your work surface. And the condiment holders can be pushed to the sides to look like they nestle right into the work surface.

It is not only a clever way to increase space, but it looks good too. And the fact it sits over the sink means that you are in the perfect place to wash them once you are done! Genius!

Built in appliances are another great space saver. Along with built in ovens, fridges, freezers, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers, it is possible to have those appliances that sit on top of your work surfaces built in too. One great example is your microwave. A carefully designed kitchen can have the microwave built into the units above or below your main oven, which also means that preparing meals becomes easier as appliances are closer together.

Again, using 3D CAD kitchen design software to play around with the placement of appliances, including built in options, before you choose your final design will save you time and expense.

Finally, there are many options when it comes to types of cupboards and drawers you can choose that maximise the amount of space available. In addition to the previously mentioned corner carousel cupboards, there are full height 'folding' cupboards that expand when opened, multi level drawers for utensils and the like and, of course, the old standard overhead cupboard, shelf and hanging rack options.

Ian Grainger is writing on behalf of Nexus Design Software, developers of interior design software, including kitchen design software.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ian_Grainger