Cooking Methods 101

Cooking and Baking Season is here!  I know, I too enjoy cooking and baking year round (of course!), but there is something special about holiday food, what it celebrates, and the family and friends we share it with.  To celebrate the food and flavors of the season, I find it an appropriate time to discuss cooking methods. I'm categorizing this post as the first in a series of "cook | bake tips," an array of kitchen tips and tricks I'll share from time to time.

First of all, cooking is both an art and a science.  While I'm certainly drawn to culinary creativity, it is important to first understand the chemistry responsible for the dishes we prepare.  The ingredients we use are our chemistry "solutions," and the methods we choose for combining those ingredients and, in most cases, heating them up are chemical "reactions."  Here's a reference guide for common cooking methods.  Knowing how and when to use them will help ensure success in the kitchen.

NOTE:  All of the images are linked to recipes that caught my eye while exploring the web.  Click on them for more information on the source and for the complete recipe.  I cannot wait to try them myself!

Dry Heat Cooking Methods

Dry heat cooking methods transfer heat to foods without the use of moisture or a liquid.  Heat is transferred predominantly through hot air or fat (oil or butter).  The following are examples of dry heat cooking.

Roasting and Baking

Roasting is a technique that cooks food by surrounding it with hot air, usually in an oven.  The difference between roasting and baking is the size of food.  Roasting usually refers to large pieces of poultry, meat, or fish.  Baking is another method of cooking foods by surrounding them with hot air, but it usually refers to smaller pieces of food (baked chicken breasts vs. a roasted whole chicken).  Casseroles and foods that have moisture in the form of sauce, stock, or custard are also baked (Turkey Tetrazzini) as well as cakes, breads, and other sweets (Blue Velvet Cupcakes).

Herb Butter Roasted Turkey

Baked Turkey Meatballs

Grilling

Grilling is a method of cooking food through radiation from a heat source below food (i.e.gas or charcoal flames).  Flipping the food is often required so that both sides are exposed to heat.  Grilling imparts a robust flavor to foods created from the smoke that forms when fat and juices drip into the heat source.

Balsamic Grilled Vegetables

Grilled Chili Burgers

Broiling

Like grilling, broiling also uses radiation, but the heat source is above the food.  This technique is commonly used as a finishing step for browning foods.

Broiled Fish Tacos

Broiled Steak with Rice Salad

Sauteing

This technique involves cooking foods over high heat with very little fat or oil.  Saute translates "to jump" in French; stirring the food often (allowing it to "jump" around the pan) is required to keep it from sticking because of the small amount of fat used. Stir frying is a variation of sauteing that is typically done in a wok.  Searing is a technique used for browning foods over high heat with very little oil or fat.  The cooking process is typically completed by either braising or stewing (see below).  Sweating is a method of sauteing over low heat using a small amount of fat.  The purpose is to soften the food but not brown it.

Spinach Saute'	Chicken Stir Fry
Frozen Seared Steak	"Sweating" Mushrooms

Deep Frying and Pan-frying

Deep Frying is a method for cooking food by fully submerging it in hot fat (350-375 degrees F).  Pan-frying uses only enough hot fat to cover the food halfway.  Before either frying method, foods are often coated in a batter or breading.

Fried Hush Puppies

Pan-fried Chicken Flautas

 

Moist Heat Cooking Methods

Moist heat cooking methods involve cooking foods in a hot liquid or steam.  Because liquids cannot exceed temperatures beyond their boiling points, these techniques do not reach temperatures necessary to "brown" foods.

Boiling and Blanching

It doesn't get more basic than boiling, which simply means to cook food by submerging it in boiling water (212 degrees F), indicated by large bubbles breaking the surface.  Blanching is a method of plunging foods into boiling water for a short period and then moving them to an ice water bath to quickly stop the cooking process. This technique is commonly used to loosen the skin from fruits and vegetables and also to set the color of vegetables before freezing.

Hard Boiled Eggs

Blanched Asparagus

Poaching

Poaching is similar to boiling, but the cooking liquid is at a lower temperature (160-180 degrees F).  Bubbles will occasionally break the surface, but the liquid will not have as much "movement" as boiling water.  This technique is used for gently heating delicate foods such as eggs and fish.

Poached Eggs

Poached Salmon Nicoise

Simmering and Steaming

Simmering involves cooking foods at just below boiling (185-205 degrees F).  This method is often used for tough cuts of meat (high temperatures would toughen the proteins).  Steaming cooks food by surrounding it with steam or vapor.  This is typically achieved by placing the food in a covered basket over a pot of boiling water.  As the water vaporizes, it rises and cooks the food above it.

Simmer: Lamb and Vegetable Stew

Steam: Sesame Ginger Broccoli

 

 Combination Cooking Methods

Combination Cooking Methods combine a dry heat method with a moist heat method. There are two combination methods: braising and stewing.  Braising involves first searing food, typically larger cuts of meat, to brown on all sides.  The meat is then partially covered in a flavored liquid and simmered (either in the oven or over the stove).  Stewing follows the same technique as braising, but the food is cut into small pieces.

Beer Braised Chicken Sliders

Irish Beef Stew

I hope you find this reference helpful, and I especially hope the the upcoming holidays are filled with lots of love (and good food) for you and your family!

Enjoy,

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

I love Fall baking.  Maybe it's the subtle hint of nutmeg, ginger, and cloves often suggested in savory pies, cobblers, and cookies this time of year.  Maybe it's also in part that this is before the REAL hustle and bustle of holiday baking sets in.  Whatever the reason, I love having fresh baked goods on the table this season.

I've experimented with many pumpkin flavored desserts the past few years (You may remember this Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake from last Thanksgiving), but have not yet tackled pumpkin brownies... until now.

It's no secret I love chocolate, and I love cheesecake.  A few years ago I made David Lebovitz's Cheesecake Brownies, and they were to-die-for.  In the spirit of the season, I decided to re-create this recipe incorporating pumpkin flavor.  Here's my recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies:

Ingredients:

Brownie Mixture:
6 T. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup flour
1 T. cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Pumpkin Cheesecake Mixture:
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 T. flour
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1. Line a 9" square baking pan with two layers of aluminum foil (bottom and sides).  Lightly grease with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Melt butter and chocolate in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Stir to blend.
4. Remove melted chocolate from heat and beat in sugar and 2 eggs.
5. Mix in flour and next 3 ingredients, then add the vanilla and chocolate chips.  Pour into prepared pan and smooth to even.
6. In a separate bowl, beat together the cheesecake mixture ingredients.
7. Spoon the cheesecake mixture over the brownie mixture.  Then, use a dinner knife to swirl the batters gently.

8. Bake for 35 minutes (a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean).
9. Let cool in pan on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes.  Then, gently lift foil out of pan and peel it away.
10. Cut brownies into squares. 

These will store in an airtight container for a few days... that is, if they last that long :)

Happy Fall Y'all!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Triple-Layer Cheesecake

Has it really been over a month since my last post???

I guess it's a fact that time flies when you're having fun super, crazy busy.  I've started my new job, painted four rooms in my new house, and basically gotten adjusted to living in a new city.  Amidst all this "busy"ness, I did manage to make time for something very important: Dessert.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Dessert.

Ever since our wedding, Brad has been begging me to make a cheesecake like his groom's (cheese)cake. 

Beneath the coating of chocolate ganache were alternating layers of cheesecake flavors.  It was the perfect blend of classic cheesecake, chocolate, and peanut butter and the perfect dessert for my non-cake-loving husband.  He'll pass up cakes, cupcakes, and brownies, but I've NEVER seen him turn down cheesecake, and he LOVED this one.

I'll admit, I was a little intimidated about trying to re-create it.  But being the culinary experimentalist (not to mention dessert-lover) that I am, I put my fears aside, gathered up lots of cheesecake recipes, and began crafting my own.  And here it is...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Triple-Layer Cheesecake

Graham Cracker Crust
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 20 cracker "squares")
1 T. sugar
6 T. unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling:
4 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

Ganache Topping:
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

Garnish (I had these candies on hand):
Peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped
chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the bottom and sides of a 9" springform pan with cooking spray; tightly wrap the sides of the pan with two layers of aluminum foil.  Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl until crumbs are evenly moistened.  Press into bottom and 1-1/2" up the sides of prepared pan.  Bake 10 minutes; let cool on a wire rack.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in sugar until smooth.  Reduce speed to medium and beat in eggs, one at a time, until just blended.  Beat in sour cream and vanilla.

3. Equally divide the batter into three separate bowls.  Set one bowl of batter aside.

4. In a microwave safe dish, melt chocolate in 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth.  To one of the remaining two bowls of batter, stir in melted chocolate.

5. To the remaining bowl of batter, beat in peanut butter until smooth.

6. Spoon peanut butter batter into prepared crust.  Smooth the surface if necessary.  Over the peanut butter batter, pour the chocolate batter and gently smooth.  Over the chocolate batter, pour the plain batter.

7. Place cheesecake in a larger baking pan with sides.  Carefully pour enough hot water into larger pan to reach 1" up the sides of the springform pan.  Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.  Turn oven off and let cheesecake stand in oven, with door slightly ajar, for 15 minutes.

8.  Remove cheesecake from oven and water bath; remove foil.  Gently run a knife around the edges to loosen from sides of pan (do not remove from pan).  Cool completely on a wire rack for about one hour.  Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

9.  To remove the cheesecake from the springform pan, wrap a damp, warm towel around the sides of the pan to loosen the cracker crust.  Gently remove the sides from the springform pan.

10. To make the ganache:
Finely chop 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate and set aside in a bowl.  Bring 1/2 cup of heavy cream to a simmer over medium heat.  Pour simmering cream over chocolate and let sit for 1-2 minutes, melting chocolate, then stir until smooth.  Pour ganache over cheesecake and use a spatula to smooth.  Sprinkle chopped peanut butter cups and chocolate chips around the rim, if desired.  Refrigerate for about 20 minutes, or  until ganache hardens.

I sure am glad I made time for this dessert!  And I think Brad is pretty happy about it too.

Enjoy!!!