Tips on Freezing Soups
-from The Foster’s Market Cookbook by Sara Foster with Sarah Belk King

 Since soup usually is made in large quantities, some, or all, of it is likely to be frozen for later use. Here are some tips for freezing soup:

• Before putting soup into the freezer, let the mixture cool to room temperature, then chill it uncovered in the refrigerator and skim the fat off the top before freezing.
• Always store soups in tightly sealed containers, leaving a little space at the top for the soup to expand as it freezes.
• Soups with heavy cream, sour cream, milk, half-and-half, yogurt, and buttermilk break down when frozen. If the recipe calls for these ingredients, do not add them until the frozen soup has been thawed. Heavy cream and sour cream can be added to reheated soups and even brought to a boil. Milk and half-and-half can be added to soups and reheated, but only at a low boil. Yogurt and buttermilk should be added only to cold soups, since they break down when heated.
• Soups calling for pasta or rice are best if made up to the point of adding the pasta or rice. Freeze as directed above. When ready to serve, thaw the soup and bring it to a boil. Add the pasta or rice and cook until the pasta is al dente or until the rice is just tender.

Tags: freezing, freezing soups, Handy Hints, Sara Foster, The Foster's Market Cookbook, tips

I’m always interested in learning more about what makes baking work. Sure, there’s the chemistry behind a recipe that can render a moist cake or one that is as dry as toast. But there are other things besides ingredients that can make a big difference in your baking. I found some handy baking information in one of my books called How To Break An Egg by the fine folks at Fine Cooking Magazine.

Glass vs. Metal Baking Pans: Your Choice Affects Cooking Times and Crustiness
-from How To Break An Egg: 1,453 Kitchen Tips, Food Fixes, Emergency Substitutions, and Handy Techniques by Fine Cooking Magazine

Size isn’t the only thing that counts when choosing a pan from the many in your cupboard. The material it’s made of will affect both the baking time and the color of your breads, pies, cakes, and brownies.

Glass pans give food a darker, browner crust, so they’re generally best for breads and pies, which benefit from a deeply baked exterior. Because of the way glass transfers heat in the oven, it will bake both faster and darker than most metal pans (the exceptions are very dark, heavy-gauge metal pans, like the black steel pans used in professional kitchens. These intense heat conductors cook quickly and will also turn out appealing, dark crusts).

Lighter colored pans give you a paler crust, which is what you want with delicate cakes and brownies. Light-colored aluminum and shiny stainless-steel pans reflect more heat than glass and dark metal pans. This may mean your baked goods will need a bit more time to finish cooking, but it also means the sugar and chocolate in these pastries won’t be as likely to burn.

Avoid flimsy metal pans, which often bake unevenly and tend to warp at high temperatures.

Tags: Baking, glass vs. metal baking pans, Handy Hints

I was just reading the new edition of Better Homes and Gardens (Oct. 2009) and found an excerpt from the book Can I Freeze It? by Susie Theodorou. Here’s a few things you may not have known you could freeze:

1) Eggs – Lightly beaten eggs, beaten yolks, or whites can be frozen, but not an egg in its shell. Store in lidded ice cube trays. (One egg fills two cubes.)

2) Cooked Rice – spread cooled rice on a lined baking sheet. Rub with a small amount of vegetable oil so grains separate. Freeze, then transfer to a freezer bag.

3) Ginger Root – Wrap peeled ginger in plastic, then put in freezer bag. Ginger grates well while still frozen.

4) Cheese- Cut hard (Parmesan, pecorino) and semi-hard cheeses (cheddar, Swiss) into 1×4-inch blocks, wrap in plastic, then put in a freezer bag. Grate hard cheeses while frozen; thaw others in the refrigerator.

5) Butter or Margarine – Store in a freezer bag, in its original packaging, for up to six months. Thaw in the refrigerator. Don’t freeze whipped butter.

6) Nuts – Store in airtight container or freezer bag for up to six weeks. Use right from the freezer for recipes — no need to thaw.

-Adapted from Can I Freeze It? by Susie Theodorou

Tags: Can I Freeze It?, Handy Hints, Susie Theodorou

When grilling or barbecuing, always use tongs or a spatula to turn meats. Using a fork pierces the flesh and allows juices to escape, which will cause the meat to lose flavor and may cause the fire to flare up.
-from Secrets From A Caterer’s Kitchen by Nicole Aloni

Tags: barbecue tools, bbq, Grilling/BBQ, Handy Hints