Chocolate Bloom

If you have ever unwrapped a chocolate bar or opened a bag of chocolate chips and seen a light or white discoloration on it , that is what is called "Bloom." There are two types of bloom - Fat and Sugar.  Neither of these are serious but they can affect how the chocolate may react in a recipe.  Bloom is a result of improper storage.  If the temperature is too hot, the fat will separate and bloom to the surface.  If the humid is too high, the sugar will bloom.  Technically the taste is about the same, but since a change has taken place at the molecular level, you may want to eat the chocolate rather than cook with it.  Chances are it may work just fine. However, it might affect texture or how the chocolate melts during baking. If you are making ganache, the final product may not have the sheen that is typical. 

So what is the worst case? Eat some chocolate and buy some fresh for your recipe. As Ina Garten would say. "How bad could that be?"

Water

Water is one of those things that we really do not think about. However, how you use it is important. For example if you are poaching eggs, you want the water to be at a low simmer not a boil. Otherwise the egg will not cook evenly. (always but a little vinegar in the poaching water, it will help the egg to coagulate and hold together better,) When you are using a double boiler to melt chocolate, the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl and should not be boiling. 

The quality of the water and its relative hardness can also affect how food cooks. So know what kind of watter you have. If you live in area that has a high concentration of Iron mineral in the water, you may want to use purified water to cook some foods. In a previous post I discussed how hard water will affect beans and they cook.  Likewise soft water may also affect the outcome of some recipes - you may need to add more salt to pasta water for example.

So don't overlook the importance of one of the most basic ingredients - water.  It does make a difference in your cooking.

Friday's Tip

I see that Blogger fixed their problem and all of the posts are back up.  Here is the tip that I tried to post earlier.

NUTS!

Often people tell me that when the use nuts in cooking that they do not get the results they expected.  The flavor is just not there. Or it is off or even rancid.  All nuts have a high level of oils in them.  If you buy a lot of whole nuts or shelled pieces, they can go bad.  You should always store your nutmeats in the freezer. They will stay fresh for months.  Be sure and write the date purchased and what kind of nuts are in the container.  When you are ready to use them, bring them up to temperature by roasting in a dry pan over medium heat. Be careful not burn them. Let them cool and then dice them or whatever the recipe calls for.