Learn the science behind:
Once your food has been grown and harvested (or slaughtered), you’ve got your core ingredients, ready to be eaten or processed one step further. The core to really understand what happens next though, is that you really understand those ingredients. Understand why they are the way they are. Make sure you’re able to compare ingredients, and understand why they’re different and, very importantly, understand what their role is in your specific application.
Previous step: all these ingredients started out at a farm!
Next step: transform those ingredients, wherever necessary, into food through processing or cooking!
In some cases, making and using fresh homemade pasta is worth it. In lasagna for instance where the pasta will actually absorb some of those sauces and doesn’t need as long to cook in the oven if it’s fresh. However,…
Fruits and vegetables are probably the most colourful foods on our table. Meats and fish are all pretty similar (white/reddish), carbs are often yellow/brown/white, but fruits and vegetables can be so many different colours. These colours aren’t just pretty, they…
Oreo cookies seem to be omni-present in recipe world. You seem to be able to use them for anything (besides just eating them as such of course). There’s Oreo cookie ice cream, Oreo cookie milk shakes, Oreo cookie pie crust,…
Making a custard with eggs can be a hassle. You are looking for that thick, smooth, velvety structure, but if you heat the custard too quickly, or don’t stir enough, the eggs tend to curdle and your whole custard is…
I can keep on being surprised by discovering that some sort of basic food such as rosemary, apples, or, in this case, frying oils has been researched extensively! When diving into ‘frying with oil’ I found complete books dedicated on…
Adding cinnamon to a sweet sticky roll immediately makes it less sweet. An apple pie with cinnamon is so much richer in flavour. A hint of cinnamon in a stew adds a lot more depth to the dish. The aromatic…
“No, but vegetarian chicken is made from soy and soy comes from far thus is worse than a chicken produced 50 km from here. But, that chicken has to eat plants (maybe soy) before growing into a chicken, so getting…
Just the other day we went out for dinner to celebrate a special occasion. The weather was great, we sat outside until late in the evening. Since the restaurant had a surprise option we went for that one, of course.…
The basis of making bread is simple. You knead flour + yeast + water, possibly with some salt, into a nice dough. You leave it to proof, might shape it along the way, and bake it. In some cases you…
Some vegetables can be thrown in boiling water, scooped out after a couple of minutes and just taste good by themselves (e.g. Brussel sprouts!). Others need a little frying in a frying pan and they’re good to go (bell peppers,…
Since making muffins, pancakes, pies and cookies isn’t something I can do all the time, since having those for breakfast, lunch and dinner probably isn’t a great idea, I decided bread baking would be a good alternative. The past few…
After harvest, fruits and vegetables continue to ‘live’. The respiration of fruits and vegetables keeps on going until all supplies have been depleted. For keeping fruits and vegetables fresh it is essential that you try to keep respiration going on…