Dating Your Food

There is a lot of confusion about what the dates mean on foods. Here is what the FDA says on their website.

Types of Dates

• A "Sell-By" date tells the store how long to display the product for sale. You should buy the product before the date expires.
• A "Best if Used By (or Before)" date is recommended for best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.
• A "Use-By" date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. The date has been determined by the manufacturer of the product.

 I would add that you need to add your own dates.  By this I mean once you open a bottle or container, the date on it may no longer apply. Mark the outside with the date opened. Usually once you open any container of packaged or prepared food, you start the clock ticking on the quality and safety of the product.  There are some exceptions such as pickles or frozen food that remains frozen such as ice cream or vegetable and other items that you only use some and the rest goes back to the freezer. Things like mayonnaise or salad dressings do have a limited use once opened.  When in doubt ask the manufacturer. For more information here is the link to FDA’s website

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/food_product_dating/index.asp

I will post more on food safety in the coming weeks.  Have a great day!

Sauces and Gravies

Yesterday I wrote about Roux.  It was very basic but it did give you the idea of how to make it and how to use it.  Today I want to talk about slurries.

Slurry is a mixture of water and some type of flour used to thicken soups, gravies, or sauces. The typical slurry most people use is cornstarch and water.  This is a good way if your dish is already done and you need some last minute thickening.   However, once the liquid has come to a boil, that is the extent of thickening for slurry. If you need it thicker you have to add more which can change the taste of the dish.  For those who use regular flour and water, that too will work. However the temperature of the liquid is not hot enough to cook the flour and remove the raw flour taste.  So again it depends on what you are cooking.

In wok cooking you often use a slurry of cornstarch to thicken the sauce. It is always added at the last to make sure that it thickens and does not break.  Slurries can break down over time and leave you with a thinned out liquid.

Let me know your questions or comments. Thanks – have a great day!!

Best Way to Thicken Sauces and Gravies

For some people gravy comes out of a foil envelope. That is ok and even I will use them in pinch. However, if you have never made gravy or sauces from scratch here are some things you need to know.

Roux – this is the best way I know to make outstanding gravy and sauces.  This is very simply half flour half butter.  As a rule of thumb, I use three tablespoons of flour with three tablespoons of butter.  You can use other fats, butter just tastes better. Melt the butter with the flour in the pan that you will use to make the sauce.  It is necessary to cook the flour so that it does not have a raw taste. Depending on the recipe, the roux will be blond for white sauces, tan for stews or other dishes and darker for Gumbo. The longer you cook the Roux the darker it gets. Cook over a medium to low heat so you can stop the cooking when desired. The darker the roux the less thickening affect it will have.  Your liquid need not be scorching hot. Just whisk as you add it to the roux so that the starch and fat that are happy as roux will melt into your dish. If your liquid is too hot it may cause some lumps – the same is true if it is too cold.  Try it! You will find that gravies and sauces made with a good roux have a great velvety texture. 

Thanks to Steve from Las Vegas who sent in this question.  Tomorrow I will cover different types and methods of thickening.   (By the way I have added the ability to follow this blog on social media and email and a link to my book.  Scroll down to see those links.)