Sweet Kitchen Tips 11

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And since I got myself on the road to pie making here is a couple of tricks that I found make things much easier.  Trial and error folks, the best teacher.

The first thing I learn was that sometimes even the most planned mixing can leave your dough too dry and crumbly (refer to the empanada post and you know will know what I’m talking about) when you start to roll it out.  But, the cardinal rule to pie making - DON’T OVERWORK THE DOUGH, meaning, the less you mix the better it will be.  So what to do? 

Get yourself a spray bottle full of ice water, and use it to sprint the dough when you need a bit more to make it soft.  This method distributes just the right amount making it unlikely you will add to much.

and if you are rolling along …

and your dough often sticks to the counter, adding more flour is not the best solution, since it can actually make the dough tough.  Instead, slide a pastry scraper under the dough every 30 seconds or so.  This way the dough never has a chance to stick, and it won’t tear when you need to move it.  If you don’t have a pastry scraper, you can use a metal ruler, which works just as well.

or you can go the route sandwich route…

Roll out the dough between sheets of parchment or plastic wrap paper.  And if your sandwiched package starts to roll away from you in the counter, place a nonstick silicone mat underneath to hold it in place and give you an additional smooth, stable rolling surface.

Sweet Kitchen Tips 10

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Did you know that all eggs are not alike? 

Case in point – Weight.

Eggs are size by minimum weight.  While size does not make a bit of a difference when you are cooking eggs to serve in individual portions such as when frying or poaching, when baking, it makes ALL the difference in the world.  Some baking cookbooks will give you the metric weight, which at this point you may rejoice and kiss that author - they just made your life easier

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Sweet Kitchen Tips 9

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A couple of tips about the vegetables I been using on the last post…

Did you know that Leeks were prized for centuries for everything from strength-giving qualities to magical properties.  They are related to both garlic and onion, with a flavor milder than either. In other words - yummylicious. The best way to choose when purchasing them is to make sure they have crisp, brightly colored leaves and unblemished white sections. Avoid any with withered or yellow-spotted leaves.  The smaller the leek, the more tender it will be. They store well in a plastic bag in the refrigerator up to 5 days.  Save the tough green leek ends you trim off, you can put them in a cheesecloth bag and use to flavor soups.

And since we talked about leeks.. let’s talk also about carrots.

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