Healthy Food & Drink

How to Reheat Tamales Using a Steamer

There's a reason that tamales are the food of choice for large gatherings and celebrations. You can make them weeks or months in advance, freeze them and reheat just before you need them. You can microwave tamales, but they tend to dry out. Reheating tamales in a steamer helps keep them moist and firm while ensuring that they are heated through. If you don't have a steamer, you can use a
steamer insert in a deep pot.

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How to Make Pan Gravy

JoshOzerskyI have a very elemental view of food and cooking: "sure bets" about sums it up. I'm a purist who believes in white toast, strong coffee, wood over coal and coal over gas, live fires and dead animals, and the Shinto-like purity of a perfect hamburger.

An essential on the holiday table, Josh Ozersky’s turkey pan gravy, starts with the bird’s meaty dregs and ends with a beautiful homemade sauce.See MoreTranscriptHi. I'm Josh Ozersky, Rachael Ray's buddy. And this is eHow.com, where I'm going to be making turkey gravy. This is a pan and it has all the vegetables and all the drippings from the turkey. You get it hot, pour in a little bit of wine here, a little bit of stock, Rachel's Chicken Stock of course, and as it boils, you sort of scrape up all of the scraping bits. It smells good too. Now this is now ready to get poured off. I just wanted to get the scraped on. I just wanted to get the stuck on bits into the liquid. So, I'm going to strain this out like so. All right. So, you'll see that I have like all these like little smashed vegetables. I'm going to smash them even further. I'm going to smash these down and get their essence out of them, all that carrot essence and onion essence and celery essence, which is where all the flavor comes from. It's gotta get in there, ya munza. So, I squeezed the last of the vegetal essence out of here. And then I discard this. This is kind of a classy way to do this. So, I'm going to put this over here. And this object is one that I have found very helpful. This is what they call a gravy separator. It is specifically for this purpose. It's a measuring cup with a spout that the beginning of it is low. So, you add in all of this stuff. What's going to happen is I'm going to add all of my stuff in and I have a lot of grease in here along with all that stock and fluid and so forth. And essentially what's going to happen is the fat is all going to rise up. And when the fat rises up I'll be able to pour out the liquid part and then I can.. it sort of separates it out, hence the name, so that I can use the fat to make my rue with and then the liquid I can add in. Just what I wanted rather than it being kind of a nasty greasy mess. All right, so basically the fat had separated out and it's an easy matter now to just basically get that part that I like, which is to say.. oh my god, see I'm watching the meniscus here, I don't want this to get too low, I think that's good enough. You know what, it's a little bit.. let's get that out so we get mostly all liquid. All right. And then, what I basically want now, is some fat in this pan. So, I'm going to pour in a little fat, maybe a little bit more. And I'm going to make, this is what they call a rue. I know this is.. this seems hard and challenging. And I'm not going to say that it's not hard, or challenging. But it's very doable and you have to do it to make a good gravy. Like a gravy is one of those things where it's like the one that comes in the can is bad and the one that you make, even if you totally screw it up, is good. Unless I mean something really catastrophic happens, which is very well might. And that being said, I've got, well it looks like there's a couple of tablespoons of fat there. So, they say that usually it's like a tablespoon of fat, for a tablespoon of flour and you kind of work it around. It's all nutty like this. And then you add back in the juice. So, there's a little bit at a time, and now a little bit more, and now a little bit more. And so, what's happening now is that my gravy is beginning to thicken. And they always say that you want to have the bottom of the spoon, it should stick to the bottom of the spoon. And so it has. You see there like that, bottom of the spoon. But I have to keep moving it and getting it off heat because otherwise, it's going to get way too thick. Add in a little bit more liquid, keep that going. The big thing with gravy, it is.. a lot of people say, oh, well you know, I'll put the water and whatever, wine, stock. Gravy's got to get seasoned too. Gravy is bland a lot of times. Gravy should be peppered. I mean the salt, you got a lot of salt. The stock has got salt in it. You make a turkey anyway I do, the turkey's got a lot of salt in it. And the fat, the pan fat has got a lot of salt in it. This is coming along kind of nicely. And now, just to kind of go to that extra place, let's whisk in a little bit of butter. Because gravies really love butter, and butter loves gravy. All right. So, it's as simple as that. What could be easier. Well, many things, but this came out good. I'm very happy with it and the great thing about it too, is you could always start over. In this case, I didn't have to. What am I going to do now? I'm going to put it where it belongs, on that white meat turkey. So, the white meat turkey comes over here, dry as always, despite all of my.. all of my precautions. But here I have the saving grace, gravy. It covers a multitude of sins. So, turkey gravy, it's as easy as that. I'm Josh Ozersky, Rachael Ray's buddy. And this is eHow.com.CommentsLindsayNov 24, 2011I add 1 tablespoon of cranberry jelly to my turkey drippings and get a great top note flavor to my holiday gravy.LindsayNov 24, 2011I add 1 tablespoon of cranberry jelly to my turkey drippings and get a great top note flavor to my holiday gravy.mikedossettNov 22, 2011Just how my parents make it - the best! Thanks, Josh!Cultured Carnivore: Videos (45)

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Wine-Braised Short Ribs

Join Josh Ozersky as he makes his favorite breakfast, lunchtime and dinner meal

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How to Make Tomato Chutney

Using tomatoes in chutneys can really add different flavor and texture. Make tomato chutney with help from a celebrity chef who trained at the Culinary Institute of America in this free video clip.

Part of the Video Series: Food Creations

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How to Cook Filo Dough on the Stove Top

Thaw frozen filo dough in the fridge for best results.

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Filo dough, also spelled Phyllo, is made up of layers and layers of buttery dough. It cooks up very flaky and it is similar in many ways to puff pastry. It is also normally cooked in the oven. However there are methods you can use to cook filo dough on the stove top. The first way is to fry the thawed filo dough, and the second way is to poach it in broth or water. The first is probably the more preferred method, because it resembles the oven method, although it will be a bit crisper and have a slightly different texture in the middle. The second method will lead to a soggy piece of filo that has sopped up the flavor of the liquid, making it ideal for dumplings in soups or stews.

Related Searches:Difficulty:Moderately EasyInstructions Things You'll NeedVegetable oilLarge heavy-bottomed potClip-on candy or deep fry thermometerThawed filo doughKnifeCooling rack with paper towels or newspaper underneathTongs or long-handed frying strainer, sometimes referred to as a spiderBroth of any kindLong cooking spoonSuggest EditsFrying1

Pour several inches worth of vegetable oil into your pot. Clip the thermometer to the side of the pan, with the spike going into the oil.

Place the pan on a burner on your stove and turn that burner to medium-high. Keep an eye on the thermometer. When the oil reaches 365 degrees, you'll be ready to fry.

Remove the thawed filo dough from the fridge and cut it to the desired size with a sharp knife.

When the pan reaches the correct temperature, drop the dough into the oil, a few pieces at a time. You'll want no more than five or six small pieces or two to three large pieces in the pan at a time. As they cook, they'll puff up and float, and one side will be less done than the other. Flip over about 2-to-3 minutes in and continue to cook until golden brown. Remove to cooling rack with tongs or spider.

Wait until the oil reaches 365 degrees again and repeat the process for the remainder of the filo dough.

Poaching1

Fill your pan at least halfway with broth.

Place the pan on a burner of the stove and turn to high.

Remove the filo from the fridge and cut it into pieces 1-inch wide by 2-inches long.

When the broth boils, add the filo dough, a few at a time. Turn the burner to medium high and stir occasionally. When all of the pastry is floating and puffy looking, serve it with plenty of broth.

Tips & Warnings

You can wrap the filo dough around a variety of fillings before frying. Cut a piece of filo, place a small amount of filling in the exact center, fold the filo over and press the edges together firmly. You may use an egg wash -- a little bit of egg beaten with a little bit of water -- to help "glue" the two edges together.

You can poach filo in soup that has ingredients added already, like meat and vegetables. Be aware that this process will shed some of the starch from the dough, thickening your soup.

Always be careful when frying and never leave hot oil unattended. Not only is the oil itself dangerous and capable of causing severe burns, but it can also set your kitchen on fire.

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How to Cook Bratwurst

Bratwurst can be cooked in a few different ways depending on your preferences. Learn with help from an author and a chef in this free video clip.

Part of the Video Series: Summer BBQ Recipes

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Hoosier Cabinet Types

Like this compact kitchen, Hoosier cabinets are a central workplace.

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A Hoosier cabinet is more than just a cabinet; it is an entire kitchen workstation. From its earliest incarnation, it was designed to help the cook do his job more efficiently -- and with less help. Once you know what identifying features to look for in a Hoosier cabinet, it is easy to recognize one.

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In the early 19th century in Albany, Indiana, the Hoosier Manufacturing Company began making cabinets designed to help the housewife save time in the kitchen. While kitchens were large work areas, most of the staples used in everyday cooking were kept in a separate pantry. The Hoosier cabinet combined areas for flour, salt and sugar, as well as other ingredients, in one central location. These cabinets also had a sliding or folding work area, further helping to eliminate time spent moving ingredients to a work space.

Features

The various features are what separates the different styles of Hoosier cabinets. Spaces for food staples, equipment and spices are the first things to look for when identifying the age of the cabinet. Older cabinets included features such as a flour sifter attached to the flour storage bin and a porcelain-coated steel pull-out work surface. Newer cabinets may have roll-up doors, and a cookbook rack and menu-planning dial.

Characteristics

All Hoosier cabinets are made of solid wood, primarily oak. The cabinets look like separate pieces of furniture, as they do not have the toe kicks associated with current kitchen cabinets. Toe kicks are the piece of wood that covers the legs of a cabinet from the floor to the cabinet base. Hoosier cabinets have legs and some have wheeled casters at the end of the legs. Generally the cabinets are 6 feet tall, 2 feet deep and 4 feet wide, which allows a person to stand directly in front of one and be able to reach any area of the cabinet. Older cabinets were stained, and it was not until the 1920s that painting and decorating the cabinets came into vogue. At that point, enamel paint and contrasting stenciling in the Art Deco style was popular.

Hardware and Other Embellishments

The Art Deco era changed the look of the Hoosier cabinet even if the basic design did not change. Before the late 1920s and 30s, cabinets were utilitarian, with basic hinges and drawer pulls. Identifying characteristics of the Art Deco pieces include inlay of ivory and exotic woods, and handles and hinges made of silver or aluminum and plastics. Less expensive options included paint and stencils instead of the inlay. Later cabinets returned to a less ornate style.

ReferencesIndiana Public Media: The Hoosier CabinetAmish Peddler: The Hoosier CabinetAntique Country Furniture Store: Hoosier CabinetsResourcesIndiana Magazine of History; The Hoosier Cabinet and the American HousewifePhoto Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty ImagesRead Next:

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