YumSugar

Simple Tip: Before Juicing, Keep Citrus at Room Temperature

partysugar — Mon, 11 May 2009 10:15:25 -0700

If you plan on making lemonade or a batch of cocktails that require fresh citrus juice, be sure to use citrus that is at room temperature. According to Food & Wine Cocktails 09, refrigerated citrus will yield up to a third less liquid than fruit at room temperature. To bring cold citrus to room temperature quickly, soak the fruit in really hot water for five minutes before squeezing. Ironically enough, when a recipe calls for citrus zest it's best to use the fruit right out of the fridge.

Do you normally store your lemons, limes, and oranges on the counter or in the fridge?

Yummy Links: From Rhubarb to the Swine Flu

partysugar — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 07:50:17 -0700

One farmer on why she grows rhubarb and what dessert she likes to make with it. - The Atlantic
Classic pasta carbonara inspires this scrumptious potato salad recipe. - Chow
What exactly is a hot brown? - Epicurious
Use lemon juice to naturally brighten dishes. - The Kitchn
Surprisingly these classic cocktail recipes from the 1940s seem totally modern. - Gourmet
Despite the swine flu, consumers can still eat pork. - Serious Eats

Source

Simple Substitution For Buttermilk

partysugar — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:15:38 -0800

I was at my vacation house when an intense craving for homemade waffles hit. Since it was snowing heavily, we had to make waffles with the ingredients in the kitchen. The recipe called for buttermilk, and rather than find another recipe, I decided to make the simple substitution for buttermilk that is a combination of milk and lemon juice.

Here's the easy recipe:

Place a tablespoon of lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.

Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line.

Let stand for five minutes. Then, use as much as your recipe calls for.

I needed two cups of buttermilk, so I started with two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and then filled it up with milk. The waffles turned out perfectly and were insanely comforting.

Have you ever used this substitution for buttermilk?

View 4 Photos ›

Come Party With Me: Oscars Viewing - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:50:41 -0800

At the Governors Ball, the majority of the stars will be sipping sparkling wine, so stock up on more affordable bottles of Cava or Prosecco. Place wine buckets around the room and fill with ice and bottles. Arrange champagne flutes or saucers nearby. Besides sparkling wine, three specialty cocktails will be poured at the Oscars afterparty. Select one to serve your friends. I like the Golden Rush, a concoction made with orange-flavored vodka, lemon juice, and sparkling wine.

Instead of mixing one libation at a time, prepare a large pitcher. For those who don't drink, serve a mocktail of cranberry juice mixed with lime soda. To check out the recipe for the Golden Rush, read more.

The Golden Rush
From Wolfgang Puck Catering

Ingredients

1/3 oz orange vodka
1/3 oz simple syrup
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Sparkling wine (recommended: Moët and Chandon White Star Champagne)

Directions

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the orange vodka, simple syrup, and lemon juice. Shake to combine.
Strain into a glass filled with ice. Top with sparkling wine.

Makes 1 drink.

Print recipe with images | without images

Happy Hour: French 75

YumSugar — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 13:13:38 -0700

A few weeks ago I attended the closing gala for San Francisco's Cocktail Week. The event was a casual happy hour spotted with lovely specialty drinks by the talented Absinthe Bar bartenders. The party served as closure to the week, as well as a release party for Art of the Bar, a cocktail book by the Absinthe bartenders. So naturally, they were showing off some of their specialty drinks.

I was lucky enough to experience several different selections, but the one I was gaga for was called French 75 - a champagne cocktail made with gin and citrus juice. If you've never had one, treat yourself tonight. It's simple, it's classy, it's tasty. Get the recipe, just read more

French 75
Adapted from Drinks Mixer

1 1/2 oz gin
2 tsp superfine sugar
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz lime juice
4 oz chilled Champagne
1 lemon peel twist
2 brandied cherries

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the gin, sugar, lime juice and lemon juice. Shake well. Pour into tall glass (ie: pilsner). Top with champagne. Stir well and garnish with lemon peel and brandied cherries.

Print recipe with images | without images

Don't Toss Your Sad Lettuce - Fix It!

YumSugar — Wed, 16 May 2007 09:58:31 -0700

We've all done it, we've bought lettuce with the perfectly good intention of turning it into salad, only instead of making a salad, we throw it in to the back of the fridge and forget about it for a while. We come back a few days later and find that the leaves look a bit sad and wilted. Well, what do you do? Do you toss it out? Nope! You soak it! Place washed lettuce leaves in a bowl (preferably stainless steel) filled with cold water, lemon juice and ice cubes. Soak for an hour in the refrigerator, then drain, dry and enjoy! Oh and let's be realistic here folks, if your lettuce is starting to turn to soggy mush, no amount of lemon juice is going to save it.

Luscious Lemon Cake

partysugar — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 15:58:31 -0700

Yesterday I went to this massive picnic on a cattle ranch down in Bakersfield. The weather was wonderful and the beer was flowing. The hosts provided the main course while guests (over 200 of them) were asked to bring appetizers, salads, and desserts - which were then laid out on massive correctly-labeled flatbeds. I was delighted by the assortment of food, but overwhelmed at wanting to try it all. When it was dessert time, and I was making my way around the flatbed only tasting different and interesting looking desserts, I was about to pass up a bundt style yellow cake, but at the last minute went in for a bite and thank god I did! It was the best dessert on the table, a moist lemony melts in your mouth cake that was absolutely divine. I called over my friend Jon, who was tasting some brownies a little further down the buffet, and we both agreed that it was delicious and cut ourselves large porky pig portions of the cake. Now I can't stop thinking about lemon cakes and want to give this one a try. Mother's Day is coming up and this will be a great recipe to bookmark so read more

Lemon Cake
From Diana's Kitchen

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
grated zest of 1 large lemon
1 cup sour cream
Lemon Glaze:
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 325°. Generously butter and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
Into a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a mixing bowl with hand-held electric mixer, cream 1 cup butter and granulated sugar; beat at high speed until mixture is very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down side of bowl frequently. Blend in lemon zest.
Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, adding each in 3 additions. Scrape sides of bowl frequently.
Pour batter into prepared cake pan; bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden pick inserted near the center of cake comes out clean.
Cool in pan 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine lemon glaze ingredients in a bowl, blending until smooth. Carefully turn cake out onto a platter; drizzle evenly with glaze.

Serves 12.

Print recipe with images | without images

What Can Take the Place of Buttermilk?

YumSugar — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 00:01:01 -0800

Last week I tried to make cinnamon rolls and the recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk, unfortunately I only had 1 cup in my house. Since I was in my pajamas and the weather wasn't exactly hospitable, I decided that there was no way I was going out to the store. However, I was already halfway through the recipe (I really thought I had everything before I started) and needed a solution quick!

So I poured through a bunch of food science and cooking tip books and was able to find a few good substitutions that ended up saving the day.

1 cup of buttermilk can be substituted with:

1 tbsp vinegar (or lemon juice) plus milk to equal 1 cup. Stir and let stand for 5 minutes.

1 3/4 tsp cream of tartar plus 1 cup of milk

I also learned that for baking you can use:
1/4 cup buttermilk powder plus 1 cup of water.
Remember to mix the powder with dry ingredients and water with wet.
I personally haven't tried buttermilk powder, but think it could be handy to keep on hand - once opened it will keep in the fridge for a year.

Simple Tip: Juice Citrus The Right Way

partysugar — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:23:16 -0700

I had an embarrassing moment the other day when bartender Aaron Smith of 15 Romolo was teaching me how to make The Last Word. Apparently, the reason my citrus juicer is really hard to close has nothing to do with the juicer being faulty and everything to do with me using it incorrectly! All this time, I've been inserting lemons and limes upside down.

To properly use a handheld juicer and extract the most juice, you should always insert the citrus cut side down. As you squeeze the gadget closed, the citrus will turn inside out.

Now that you know the right way to use a juicer, tell me: anyone else make this mistake?

View 9 Photos ›

Happy Hour: Whiskey Sour

partysugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:00:34 -0700

It's Whiskey Week here in San Francisco and to invite you along for the fun, I thought I'd share an easy and classic cocktail, the whiskey sour. According to Dale Degroff in The Essential Cocktail, the standard recipe is a combination of spirit, egg white, simple syrup, and lemon juice. The recipe I like jazzes it up by throwing in a small amount of orange juice. The resulting drink is far better than anything made with store-bought sour mix. It's not too sweet but not too strong. To learn how to make this refreshing, surprisingly light concoction, read more.

Whiskey Sour
From Food & Wine

Ingredients

Ice
2 ounces Canadian whisky
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce fresh orange juice
1/2 ounce Simple Syrup
1 tablespoon pasteurized egg white (optional)
1 orange wheel and 1 maraschino cherry

Directions

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the whiskey, citrus juices, Simple Syrup and egg white and shake vigorously.
Strain into a rocks glass over ice and garnish with the orange wheel and cherry.

Makes 1 drink.

Print recipe with images | without images