![]() An avid fan of cooking and trying new recipes, Jacquelyn D. Kirkland has mastered complicated dishes like Coq Au Vin, creme Brule, jambalaya, and chocolate orange chocolate cake torte. Inspired by the masterful recipes of Paul Prudhomme, Julia Child, John Besh, and Dorie Greenspan, Jacquelyn Kirkland always looks for new recipes and cooking challenges. Cooking at home is very beneficial when it comes to health and nutrition. Research shows that cooking at home decreases the amount of fat, sodium, and calories people consume by 50 percent as compared to eating out. For individuals who have children, cooking at home helps improve the well-being of children by making them less likely to gain too much weight and less likely to use drugs or alcohol. Additionally, children who eat at home with their families have better grades and rate higher on happiness scales. Cooking at home brings families closer together, and it also provides better balanced meals. In restaurants, people may eat too much just because the food is costly and in front of them. Additionally, many meals at restaurants do not contain healthy ingredients like beans, vegetables, whole grains, and vitamin-rich foods. Individuals who cook at home during the week have higher levels of vital nutrients such as vitamin E, iron, calcium, and vitamin C. After enjoying recipes by Dorie Greenspan and Julia Child, Jacquelyn D. Kirkland developed a love of traditional French cuisine. Even though new recipes are often challenging, Jacquelyn Kirkland enjoys the overwhelming satisfaction that comes from mastering a new recipe, and she promotes the idea that cooking at home is easier than many people think.
Although many people give up cooking at home because of their busy schedules, it is actually very possible to cook at home quickly and easily after a long day at work. One way to make cooking at home easier on a busy schedule is to plan ahead. Trying to think of meal ideas at the last second wastes a lot of time. By planning the week’s dinners ahead of time, cooks can shop and take care of advance prep during free time on the weekends. Doubling up on recipes also makes the cooking process easier. Making large meals and storing portions for serving later allows busy individuals to only cook on certain days, rather than every day of the week. Using a slow cooker is also a useful idea. Slow cookers cook meals unattended throughout the day so food is ready at dinner time. Jacquelyn D. Kirkland, a fan of famous chefs such as Paul Prudhomme, John Besh, Julia Child, and Dorie Greenspan, is always looking for a new challenge in the kitchen. One of Jacquelyn D. Kirkland’s favorite Dorie Greenspan recipes is vegetable quiche transformed into a delicious, flaky tart.
Dorie Greenspan recently introduced an improved version of the Baking with Dorie app for iPad. The recipe bundle costs just $2.99. People who have already purchased the earlier version of the Baking with Dorie app can unlock the new version for free by visiting www.howzer.com/contact. Visitors can click on the first question on the web page and follow the instructions that appear. Chef Greenspan’s app is appreciated by food lovers throughout the world. Baking with Dorie recently won the Best of the World Gourmand Award for best culinary app. Each year, chefs from more than 150 countries enter the contest, which is judged by a group of international culinary arts professionals. An ambitious and enthusiastic cook, Jacquelyn D. Kirkland has been learning about ingredients and cooking styles since she was young. Weekly shopping trips with her family taught her the importance of fresh ingredients as well as how to enhance the flavor of not-so-fresh food. While she is eager to learn all styles of cooking, Jacquelyn D. Kirkland is particularly partial to Cajun cooking, which often relies on roux to thicken gumbos and other sauces.
Roux is a mixture of equal parts of flour and fat that is used to both thicken sauces and impart a special flavor to them. Despite this seeming straightforwardness, there are many different ways to make a roux. For example, some cooks use animal fat or lard, some use clarified butter, and some use vegetable oil, while still others rely on various combinations. By the same token, some cooks season the flour with various spices. There is agreement, though, that roux is best prepared in a skillet over low to medium heat. Most cooks first heat the fat in the skillet and then add the flour. The longer the roux cooks, the darker and more flavorful it will become; however, the darker the roux becomes, the less thickening ability it has. How long a roux should be cooked depends on the recipe in which it will be used, but it absolutely must be cooked long enough to remove the bitter taste of raw flour. When making roux, cooks cannot leave it to simmer, but must monitor and stir the mixture constantly, scraping the bottom of the skillet. If roux is not stirred adequately, the flour will char and impart a very unpleasant flavor to the food. Roux should not be added to a liquid to thicken it; instead, a liquid or other ingredient at room temperature should be slowly added to the roux and mixed thoroughly. At the beginning of this process, the mixture may become very thick and hard to work with, but as more liquid is added, the more workable it will become. Like many Americans who have cultivated a passion for cooking, Jacquelyn D. Kirkland began her culinary adventures with a regional specialty. Attracted by the nuances of Cajun cuisine, she experimented with one of its better-known dishes–gumbo. Inspired by a gumbo recipe published by Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme, Jacquelyn D. Kirkland learned to master the production of a roux, traditionally used as a thickening agent in French cooking. However, in Cajun cooking, this necessary ingredient serves a purpose beyond thickening. It enhances gumbo by imparting smoky and nutty flavors to the dish.
A dark roux is the signature ingredient in authentic Cajun gumbo. Roux typically consists of approximately equal parts flour and oil, but many cooks use more flour than oil. In the technique used by Paul Prudhomme, a cook heats the oil to the smoking point, rapidly whisking in the flour. He developed this method to cut down on the cooking time. The high heat browns the flour quickly, and the cook’s challenge is not to burn the flour. Similar to preparing risotto, roux requires constant whisking. Until cooks master this method, they can adjust the heat to a lower setting and allow the roux to form more slowly. To prevent burning, some cooks add some of the essential gumbo ingredients, such as celery, onion, and bell pepper, to cool the roux and continue cooking it until it reaches the desired color. For easy instructions on making Cajun roux, readers can watch a You Tube video produced by Paul Prudhomme (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np3uGcdQNUw) or read one cook’s easy guide (www.grouprecipes.com/20066/making-cajun-roux.html). Homemade roux can be prepared before using it in recipes. After the freshly made roux is cooked and cooled, it can be stored in the refrigerator for days. |
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December 2016
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