Sunday, June 26, 2011

how do I use that?!

Some of the basic kitchen utensils I know are knives, chopping board and the kitchen laddle. With the mini personal tour around the kitchen of the different food establishments I've worked with, there are several other things that I have discovered. These may be familiar to some of you but just the same, I'm sharing them with you. I also wanted to share a simple and classic Filipino dish called "Fresh Lumpiang Ubod"..

 "Chinois" or what is usually called Fine China - a very fine meshed china cap used when  great clarify or smoothness is needed in a liquid

 Ball cutter or what is commonly known as "melon baller" - it is a sharp-edged scoop or cup-shaped, half sphere implement used for cutting out balls of fruits and vegetables

 "Food Mill" - it is a device with a hand-turned blade that forces food through perforated disks that are interchangeable, with different coarseness or fineness to reduce a solid to small , fine pieces or powdery particles like vegetables, coffee, pepper, spices, etc.

      
"Sieve" - it is a screen type mesh supported by a round metal frame used for sifting dry ingredients like starch and flour

 "Colander" - a perforated bowl of varying sizes made of stainless steel, aluminum or plastic used to drain washed or cooked ingredients from liquid


  "Skimmer" - it is a perforated disk, slightly cupped with a long handle used to skim or remove surface layers of fat, froth and scum from simmering stock, sauce or soup, stew or jam, or used to remove solid pieces from soups, stocks and other liquids.

 "Pastry Wheel or Wheel Knife" - a round, rotating blade, plain or fluted with a handle used to cut rolled - out dough, pastries, and baked pizza.

 "Wire Whip or Whisk" - a device with loops of stainless steel wire fastened to a handle, used to beat eggs or other liquid

"Funnel" - a cone-shaped kitchen tool with a tube at the point used to transfer liquids or powders into a narrow- necked containers to avoid spills.

   
"Garlic press" - a kitchen tool used to extract the pulp and juice from garlic cloves.

  
"Larding Needle" - a large needle with a wide eye, used for pulling strips of larding pork through meats.

  
"Kitchen Mallet" - a wooden or metal hammer-like device used to flatten meat and poultry to make it tender.

 
"Potato Masher" - it is a gadget designed to press potato and similar cooked vegetables through perforated container, resulting in strings about the diameter of a rice grain.


  
"Vegetable Brush" - a small brush with stiff bristles used for scrubbing vegetables like potatoes and carrots, also used to clean corn before cooking.


      
"Wire Basket" - a small wire utensil for shaping and frying foods in deep fat or a small wire basket used to suspend foods for deep fat frying.

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"FRESH LUMPIANG UBOD"
This is a variation of the Filipino spring rolls which is made from coconut julienne or heart of palm. 

Ingredients for filling:
cooking oil
1 head garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1/4 kilo pork, ground
1 small chicken breast, cooked and flaked
(keep the chicken broth)
2 carrots, strips
1/2 kilo ubod, sliced into strips
salt and pepper to taste

Wrapper:
1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
2 tbsp. oil
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup water

Sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 cups water
3-4 tbsp cornstarch

Toppings:
crushed garlic
chopped nuts


Procedure:
Heat oil in pan and saute garlic, onion. Add pork and chicken ans saute for a few minutes. Add chicken broth and allow to simmer. Add ubod and cook partially for about 8 minutes. Add carrots and season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 10 minutes then set aside.

To make the wrapper, sift flour in a bowl and make a well in the center. Break in the eggs. Add oil with constant stirring. Combine milk and water and gradually add it to the flour mixture. if needed, strain. Cook in Teflon non stick pan . Wrap cooked fillings in crepe and service with sauce with crushed garlic and chopped nuts on top.

For the sauce, combine all ingredients together and cook with constant stirring until thick.


happy eating! :)





Wednesday, June 01, 2011

watch out...!!!

I grow up seeing my mom cooking our meals everyday in the kitchen and as far as equipment and tools in the kitchen, I only know of basic tools like spoon ladle, kitchen knife, usual pots and pans. I learned more of these things when I become a freshman HRM student at St. Paul College of Manila (St. Paul University now) and later on discovered a lot of different other things I have yet to encounter when I cook.


First, I wanted to share the different types of knife that I have encountered while I had the chance to work in a hotel’s kitchen..

  BUTCHER KNIFE

This is a heavy, broad, slightly curved blade used for cutting, sectioning and trimming raw meats.

CLEAVER

A very heavy, broad blade used for cutting through bones and heavy chopping.

  MEZZALUNA OR MINCING KNIFE

It actually gets its name because of its shape. In Italy, mezza means half and luna means moon. This knife is best used on a cutting board to chop small items like onions or fresh herbs. Use the knife in a rocking motion for best results.
 
FRENCH KNIFE

 This is the most widely used knife in the kitchen for chopping, slicing, dicing, etc. It is described as having a wide blade at the heel and tapers to a point. The blade length is 10 inches for general work. Larger types of this kind are for heavy cutting and chopping while smaller ones are for more delicate work.

  OYSTER KNIFE

It is a short, rigid, blunt knife with a dull edge used to open oysters (obviously, the name..hehe)


PARING KNIFE

This short knife, used for paring and trimming vegetables and fruits, has 2 to 4 inch blade

  CHANNEL KNIFE

A small tool used generally in decorative works such as in making garnishes

TOURNE KNIFE

This small knife, similar to a pairing knife has curved, pointed blade to make cutting the curved surfaces of vegetables easier.  

BREAD KNIVES

Bread knives are usually between 15 cm and 25 cm (6 and 10 inches). These are serrated knives that are able to cut soft bread without crushing it.

I may have not used all these types at home but I have definitely learned abut them a lot and now I’m able to identify their uses.  One of the interesting type of knife that I may have encountered is the boning knife or what is popularly know as the deboning knife.

BONING KNIFE

This is a thin, pointed blade about 6 inches in length used for boning raw meats and poultry. Stiff blades are sued for heavier work while flexible ones are used for lighter work and filleting small to medium-sized fish.


Today’s recipe calls for the use of a boning knife and I was really amazed with the kitchen people who did deboned a whole chicken for this special recipe:

Chicken Relleno 


1 whole chicken, deboned with shape kept

2 tablespoons calamansi juice (local lemon)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
 

Stuffing


1/2 kilo ground pork

1/2 cup bacon, diced

1 cup ham, diced

1 can Vienna sausage, drained and sliced

1/4 cup sweet green peas

1/4 cup carrots, minced

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup pickle relish

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

5 whole eggs, beaten

1/2 cup butter

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

Salt and pepper to taste



Marinate chicken in calamansi juice, soy sauce and sugar. In a bowl, mix all stuffing ingredients well. Stuff the chicken in all parts. Sew the cavity opening and truss the chicken. Wrap chicken in aluminum foil. Heat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake breast-up for an hour or until chicken is cooked. Open the foil and rub chicken with butter and put back in oven until golden brown. 


happy eating!!!