New Year 2012

This has been a wonderful year and I am looking forward to another awesome year.

I first want to thank all of you who have become more than customers, friends also over this last year.  The Olde Towne Butcher Shoppe, on the corner of William and Charles Streets in downtown, has given me space in the new area to put my products.  Every Friday I will have my fresh breads available for you all to purchase, they will be limited in quantity, French, Farmhouse white, and Multigrain all will be available.  I will take orders and you all can pick any order and pay at the butcher Shoppe, if you like.

I will also have some item in the refrigerator section.

Are you stressed out about all that you did over the holidays?   Well here are a few tips that might help you…

Leftover turkey or chicken in the freezer?  Here is a quick recipe that gets those kids love it all over again:

2 cans crescent rolls (Pillsbury)

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tbls butter, softened

¼ cup onion, finely chopped

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon black pepper

2 cups turkey, chicken chopped (if you don’t have leftovers, open 2 cans of Swanson cooked chicken in the can, drain.)

Mix everything together well, except the rolls. Roll out the dough keeping two triangles together to form a square.  Place a large scoop of the filling inside, fold two sides together, pinch top, place on a greased cookie sheet (or use parchment paper).

Melt about 2 more tablespoons butter; brush on top sprinkle crushed croutons over the top and bake until golden brown.

Serve with peas, salad, applesauce or cranberry sauce.  These also freeze well and make great lunch “pocket” meals.

February is of course “lovers: month.  Start thinking now about how you want to make that person feel special, how about some of my hand dipped cherry liqueur soaked chocolate covered cherries?  Or butter crunch toffee.

Have a great January, Chef Nancy

 

Blog week of August 22, 2011

Hope that you enjoyed and learned something from the last blog on salt and that you have
experimented with various types of salt.
This session we are going to talk a little about food safety, since it is hot out there and we all love
picnics.
As the summer seems to be getting a little bit hotter, we at times forget about the food we bring out
and even leave sitting on the counter. First off the counter and the air around it are not as cold as a
refrigerator. So the food can become contaminated and become bad to eat, even though it smells fine
and looks fine and probably taste good. BEWARE there are evils that lurk about.
Let’s talk about salads first: mayonnaise and salad dressing can go bad within an hour of just sitting on
a picnic table. You should keep them in the cooler with lots of ice or in the refrigerator until you are
all sitting down and ready to eat. This is also true if you are serving deviled eggs, crab salad, tuna salad
etc, you get the picture. Anything that has either salad dressing or mayonnaise in it has a short shelf life
outside the refrigerator.
When you are in the cooking area and fixing many different things here are some tips for a very safe
meal:
1. Start with a very clean surface, if using a cutting board, put a damp rag underneath the cutting board
(this will help it not slide around on you as you cut and chop).
2. Make sure all you knives are honed and sharp. You get hurt twice as fast from a dull knife as a sharp
one. Only one knife on the cutting board at one time.
3. keep a bowl of sanitized water (1 teaspoon bleach to one gallon of water) and a rag to keep the area
clean.
4. After you are doen with one item wash the area and place it in a bowl or in a container to keep from
the other items to be cut separated and uncontaminated.
5. Always do you chicken last, making sure the area has been cleaned and that where ever the raw chick
has touched does not have cooked or raw food around it. Meat is the same but chicken you must be
100% more careful.
6. After each item you have done wash and dry your hands, board, and knives.
7. Rule of thumb never let food of any kind sit out in the open even in your kitchen for more than 4
hours, the longer food sits out of a temperature controlled environment the danger zone climbs.
Shorten the danger zone by putting the food away asap.
Have any questions just email me and I will be glad to help. There is a lot more on the safety of food
than what I can cove r in a blog without boring you.
Have a safe food month.
See you at the route 3 farmers market Saturdays!
Chef Nancy

 

Salt Secrets

We all use salt in some form or another do you know the difference?

The three that are the most popular are: table salt (iodized), Kosher, and Sea

Were you aware that there are many types of salt just in these three salts?

Over the next few weeks I will get more detailed into other salts and what their uses are good for.  For now let’s get to just the basics.

Table Salt: we all grew up with this salt, no one really paid any attention, it was just salt.  This salt contains iodine.  Iodine is what the thyroid needs to keep active (along with other things), but some are allergic to iodine.  The old alternative was to remove salt from your diet, and that made food bland and unappealing.

Table salt should only be used at the table, not for cooking, seasoning or baking.  It can alter the taste and outcome of your product (food).

Kosher Salt: This can come in the form of fine to coarse; I use them all depending on what
I am using them in.  For my rubs for ribs, I use the coarse salt.  This is because it will take longer to dissolve and the flavors of the rub can work before the salt does.  I use fine for cooking vegetables, breads and in pasta water, etc.  Kosher salt is the base for all cooking; it has a refined flavor that will add another dimension to the dish or bread.

Sea Salt: It comes in various types that I will blog about next week.  I use regular sea salt at the end of cooking to add that touch of wow and enhance the flavor of your dish.  For instance, use sea salt on steak while it is resting (15 minutes before cutting) for the meat juices to reenter the meat–the salt will also penetrate the meat for added richness.  When baking with sea salt, finish rolls with just a pinch when they come out of the oven, let cool.  There’s nothing better than a fresh hot roll!

Enjoy cooking with SALT!

Chef Nancy