Cookie Oats

Image by Navaboo via Flickr

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
½ cup natural cane sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups old fashioned oats
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups dark chocolate chips

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together the butter and sugars on the lowest speed for 25 seconds. The butter needs to be a bit lumpy (not creamy). 

3. Next add eggs as well as the vanilla and mix for another 30 seconds. 

4. Add the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt until it makes a completely mixed dough (mix for about 1 minute). 

5. Lastly, add chocolate chips.

6. Scoop a half a cup of dough onto a greased baking sheet, this should yield 20 cookies. Bake for 18 minutes and enjoy!

Baking Tips 101

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Want to know more on how to bake and cook easily? Here's a list of simple know-how that will make a big difference in the kitchen!

1. If you've had baking powder or soda for some time, check to see if it still has leavening power by adding a small amount to a bit of very hot water — if it bubbles and fizzes, then it's still good.

2. When adding nuts to batter, do so at the very last moment and the nuts will have a crispier texture.

3. When recipes call for citrus peel, use only the colored portions of the citrus skins, since the white pith is bitter.

4. If you're chopping nuts in a food processor, add a portion of the sugar or flour specified in the recipe. It will keep the nuts from sticking together from their oils.

5. All nuts taste better if they are roasted in an oven set at 350º F for 5 to 7 minutes to crisp and release their fragrant oils.

6. If you're out of baking powder, mix 1/2 baking soda and 1/2 cream of tartar.

7. Mixing chopped nuts, dried fruit, or other additions with a little of the flour called for in the recipe will keep them from sinking to the bottom as they bake.

8. Raisins and other dried fruits are better if plumped before they are added to a dough or batter. Pour boiling water over the dried fruit and soak for 30 minutes. Then drain and blot well on paper towels.

9. If using glass baking pans instead of metal ones, reduce the oven temperature by 25º F. Shiny metal pans reflect heat, so foods are tender with a light brown crust. Dark metal or enamel pans absorb heat so foods brown more quickly and develop a crust.

10. Nonstick cookie sheets should be light colored, or cookies may brown too much on the bottom.

11. Allow at least 1 inch between pans so that they don't touch in the oven. Also, allow at least 1 inch between the pans and the wall of the oven. This allows air to circulate.

12. Dip your measuring spoon in Crisco Oil before measuring honey or other sticky ingredients.

13. To make cupcakes less messy for lunchboxes and picnics, insert some frosting into the center using a bulb baster instead of frosting the top.

14. Whenever you find yourself with over-ripe bananas, stash them in a re-sealable bag in the freezer. The skins will turn dark brown, but the banana inside will be perfect to use.

15. Keep ingredients at room temperature for best results. I even store my butter in the cupboard.

16. Scoop shortening from can to the measuring cup with a rubber scraper or spatula. Press it into the cup and level it off with the same spatula.

17. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices to avoid lumps.

18. When measuring flour, heap desired amount into measuring cup and scrape off the excess—do not pound or settle it.

19. Before mixing batter, preheat the oven, prepare cake pans, and move oven rack to center position.

20. To seal in crumbs, spread a thin layer of frosting on the cake, and then refrigerate it. When the base coat of frosting is hard, spread on a final, heavier layer.

21. For a smooth-frosted surface, use a straight-edged metal spatula to spread icing.

There! Simple know-how that makes a big difference for us cooking an dbaking enthusiasts.

Top 10 Pie Tips

Image via Wikipedia

A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Pies can be either "filled", where a dish is covered by pastry and the filling is placed on top of that, "top-crust," where the filling is placed in a dish and covered with a pastry/potato mash top before baking, or "two-crust," with the filling completely enclosed in the pastry shell. Pies can be a variety of sizes, ranging from bite-size to ones designed for multiple servings.

Now we can all enjoy making home made pies at home by simply following this online cooking tips on how to make a perfect pie.

1. Keep ingredients cold.

• Butter should be kept refrigerated until using; vegetable shortening, like Crisco®, can be stored in the freezer without freezing solid.
• Add ice cubes to a measuring cup and fill it with more water than you'll need; add cold water to the pastry mixture a tablespoon at a time.

2. Refrigerate the dough after every step.

• Chill dough immediately after mixing so that the flour can absorb all the liquid.
• Chill it after rolling it out and lining the pie pan, to relax the dough and prevent it from shrinking in the oven.
• For double-crust pies, roll out the top crust and refrigerate it on a flat plate or parchment-lined sheet pan while you prepare the pie filling.

3. Handle the dough as little as possible.

Try to patch cracks in your dough rather than re-rolling the crust. Over-handling makes the pastry tough.

4. Use as little flour as possible when rolling out the dough.

The pastry can absorb extra flour, which will also make it tough. After rolling out the dough, brush off loose flour with a pastry brush or gently brush it with the edge of a clean kitchen towel.

5. Bake plain crusts or filled pies in a hot oven to set the crust's structure.

Most recipes call for a high initial temperature and then a reduced oven temperature for the rest of the baking time.

6. Vent double-crust pies.

Cut slits in the top crust or use decorative cutters. This allows steam to escape, which is especially important for fruits with high moisture content.

7. Use aluminum foil or "pie shields" to protect the crust.

Loosely fold two-inch-wide strips of foil around the edges of the crust to keep it from getting too dark during the long bake time.

8. Bake pies on the lowest oven rack on a preheated sheet pan.

This helps prevent soggy bottom crusts. A rimmed pan also prevents juicy fruit pies from bubbling over onto your oven floor.

9. Bake your pies long enough.

Fruit pies, in order to thicken properly, need to be hot enough for the filling to boil. Custard pies are done when a knife tip inserted an inch from the center comes out clean (the center will firm up as the pie cools).

10. Let pies cool before serving.

The filling needs time to set or else the pie will be runny. Fruit pies should cool at least four hours before slicing; custard pies should cool for two hours before serving or being refrigerated.

5 Reasons to Enroll in Online Cooking Schools

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     Part of our basic need is food. For each culture, there's different food preference. Regardless of our daily activities, we can still manage to squeeze in a home prepared meal. Be it a quick cereal mix, salad or sandwich. Or can be an elaborate meal for a special guest. Listed below are five good reasons why people on the go prefer to subscribe, or enroll through online cooking schools.   

               
1. Time

     Time is gold. That is why the planner or appointment calendar was invented. Enrolling in online cooking schools helps us decide what time of the day or week to squeeze in the needed modules to finish or just to learn some basic meals. No need to be stressed out with teachers that will quiz you on how to properly hold a knife. No excess time to waste in applying make-up and battling the rush hour to get to cooking schools on time. You just need to figure out how to manage your own sweet time with the additions of your daily tasks.

2. Accessibility

     As they say, "just a click away". True indeed, your cooking school is just a click away. Be you may be in the cafe, park, airport, its all a click away. The only requirement is your computer and internet connection. Thats only for reading of course. If you plan to do the actual hands-on, a fully equipped kitchen with the necessary basic ingredients at hand is fully advised.

                                                          http://www.flickr.com/photos/
3. Cost Efficient

     Let's say you do manage to find cooking schools around your vicinity. Chances are you still have to travel a little bit by car or public transport to get there. This is added expense to the cost of cooking school's fee. Not all tuition fees in cooking schools cover the cost of cooking ingredients. Some culinary schools even require you to purchase your own ingredients. This will top the expense list. Besides, you cannot really bring back home all of your leftover ingredients and prepared meal. 

4. Wide Reach

      That's why they call it World Wide Web. Because you have whole wide world within your reach. Let's say you live in San Francisco, but you crave sushi and would like to learn the authentic way of preparing it. What better way of learning the culture and the authentic sushi art than through a Japanese Chef reachable by his online cooking school. Through the help of online wonders, you could easily access your preferred online cooking schools even if they are halfway across the world.

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5. Paper - Free

     Climate change is affecting us all. We all know paper is produced from trees. If you know how to recycle, the better. But too much paper can be added clutter in your home. Not to mention the episodic bout of "forgetfulness" one encounters during times when one is really looking for a specific recipe you have previosly listed. Through the help of inbox or document folders in your laptop or pc, this "accidental misplacements" can be easily managed.

     I'm glad cooking is now an easy task to do with help of such online cooking schools.