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Apr. 2009 - In this Issue: |
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Butter and Basic Sauces |
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 As one hyperbolic chef puts it, "the secret to life is butter." It's a rare cook that doesn't appreciate the magic that the flavor of butter brings to their kitchen. Whether cooking, baking, or simply spreading on fresh bread, the key ingredient to a recipe is often butter. Many of the secrets that butter holds are due to its response to temperature. It remains a solid at cooler temperatures, but begins to melt at mouth temperatures - just like chocolate! In this issue we'll deepen our understanding of butter, and explore some classic sauces that owe their existence to butter. We finish with a review of one of our favorite cookbooks, and present three basic sauce recipes that will provide plenty of panache to a weekday meal or a more formal affair.
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Kitchen Window Online |
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 Plan some fun with a cooking class at Kitchen Window! We have an incredible line-up of topics, menus, and instructors. There are, literally, dozens of choices to choose from. Our classes make a great outing with friends, visiting relatives and a wonderful date night.
KIDS: Hell's Kitchen Window - #2758 – Saturday, April 18 - 10:00 a.m.
Fundamentals of Weeknight Meals - #2764 – Thursdays, April 23 & 30 - 6:00 p.m.
Celebrated Chefs AT Damico - #2767 – Saturday, April 25 - 10:00 a.m.
Meet the Chef: Birches - #2772 – Tuesday, April 28 - 6:00 p.m.
View All Cooking Classes You may register for any of our classes any time of day!
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 Edible Twin Cities
Together, through our community, we celebrate beef. Get an interesting and informative view from producer, to butcher, to chef. Edible Twin Cities, the quarterly publication that promotes the abundance of local foods in the Twin Cities area and surrounding communities brings their spring issue to life at Kitchen Window. Their mission is to transform the way residents of the greater Twin Cities shop for, cook, eat, and appreciate the food that is grown in our region. The spring’s feature article focuses on understanding animals as a food source from head to tail. Learn the basics of beef varieties, grades and selection. Gain an understanding of the best uses for each section of the cow. Plus get a chance to experience some of the delicacies of beef from cheeks to oxtail, tongue to tripe, and stocks to hanger steak. Join our duo of chefs as they prepare 6 of their favorite dishes highlighting the uniqueness of beef.
Saturday, April 25 | 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
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ASID Showcase Home Culinary Evenings
May 16 - June 14, 2009
Culinary Evenings - Wine & Dine
Wednesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays -- $80.00
Enjoy a designer-led tour of the ASID Showcase Home and then continue on to Kitchen Window, where guest chefs from local dining hot spots will meet you and guide you through and exciting menu, while a wine representative discusses the perfect wine pairings.
Culinary Evenings - Appetizers & Wine Cocktails
Saturdays -- $55.00
Enjoy a desinger-led tour of the ASID Showcase Home and then continue on the Kitchen Window, were executive chef Dan Darvell will guide you through an exciting appetizer selection, while a mixologist shakes up the classic wine cocktails.
Tickets On Sale Now - For more information, menu descriptions or to register
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Featured Butter and Sauce Gear |
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Butter is a unique ingredient -- it's a solid at some temperatures, and a liquid at rather low temperatures. A few targeted tools will help you manage this key ingredient on your toast, on the table, and while baking and cooking.
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Knife of the Month - April |
6" Wusthof Trident Cooks Knife
No kitchen should be without this manual food processor. It is the most essential of all knives used in the kitchen. Slicing, mincing, dicing of all kind of food. Perfectly balanced, an extension of your hand.
Trident Classic 6" Cooks - Suggested Retail $125.00 THIS MONTH $89.99
Trident Classic Ikon 6" Cooks - Suggested Retail $150.00 THIS MONTH $99.99 |
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 "Bread is but a canvas for good butter." Historically, butter was peasant food just as bread was. It was natural that they become inextricably linked. "Bread and butter" is a time-honored idiom for describing one's source of daily livelihood and well-being. Somewhere along the line, French aristocracy discovered the pleasures of butter transforming it to a much-in-demand food staple and key to many gastronomic favorites.
What is Butter? - For being a staple of kitchens everywhere, you may be amazed about what you don't know about butter. Butter is made from milk, most commonly cow's milk, but can be made from sheep, goat, buffalo, yak, or other ruminating mammals' milk. Butter is comprised of butterfat, milk proteins, and water. According to legal food definitions, commercially produced butter must have a butterfat content of at least 80%. Cow's milk has a butterfat content of approximately 4%, so it takes a lot of milk to make a pound of butter, in fact 10-11 quarts.
 How Butter is Formed -- Suspended in unhomogenized milk, the butterfat exists in tiny fat "bubbles" with a thin membrane surrounding each globule of fat. Undisturbed, the fat or cream, rises to the top of the milk and is easily skimmed away to the butter churn. Agitating the skimmed cream will turn it into butter. This agitation, or churning, breaks the membranes of the fat globules allowing them to form longer chains of fat "crystals" and coagulating in the process. Churned butter is compromised of these butterfat crystals, loose butterfat, and unbroken fat globules. The percentage of each form of butterfat will have an impact on the consistency of the butter. As butter forms, liquid separates from the fat. This liquid is known as buttermilk. (However, most commercially-sold buttermilk is a fermented skim milk, not the runoff from butter-making).
Why is Butter Yellow? -- The taste and yellow color of butter derive much of their character from the pasture or feed given the dairy animal. Nuances in taste between different dairies can be quite noticeable and vary by farming region. Many commercial dairies add annatto, (a seed from the achiote tree) or beta-carotene, (a natural plant pigment), to their butter to amplify its yellow appearance.
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Butter Terms - The most common butter term is "sweet cream butter." Sweet cream butter is made from pasteurized milk and contrasts with butter made from unpasteurized forms of butter known as "raw cream butter." In Europe, cultured butter, where the cream has soured or fermented before churning, is preferred. Whipped butter is mechanically fluffed with nitrogen gas to be more spreadable. Nitrogen gas is used to reduce the chances of oxidation and spoilage that natural air might incite. Butter commonly comes as salted butter or unsalted butter. Salt serves to preserve butter and enhance its flavor, while unsalted butter allows the cook to adjust the salt according to taste. Most baking recipes call for unsalted butter and calibrate the amount of salt required in the recipe on that assumption.
Butter's Nutrition - This is a bit of a sore subject. Butter is 80% fat; one tablespoon of butter contains 11 grams of fat, of which 64%, or 7 grams is saturated fat. It's this saturated fat component that prompts us for some cautious moderation. One strategy in balancing our intake of butter is to save it for when it really counts -- where the flavor of butter is central to the food experience. Other butter management strategies include using whipped butter, or compound butters made of olive oil and butter.
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How to Store Butter - Butter may be kept for several months under refrigeration and for up to six months in the freezer. To prevent the butter from picking up odors during storage, wrap it well. Butter, like all food fats, can become rancid. Rancidity occurs over time upon exposure to air and light; the long fat molecule chains break apart into smaller fat chains and undesirable acids. Rancid fat is not unsafe to eat, but will not taste very good. However, refrigerated butter is not very spreadable. A French butter dish allows butter to sit at room temperature for several days without exposure to air. The two part dish utilizes water to form an airtight seal, thus reducing the rate of butter's degradation. With these unique butter pots spreadable butter is always available!
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 The pantheon of sauces is vast! Sauces are often what transform the ordinary into extraordinary. But, we often assume that sauces are best left to the experts and that they are beyond the scope of the everyday kitchen. This, of course, is not true!
There are basic families of sauces from which an endless variety of other sauces emerge. We'll explore a few of these sauces that depend on butter and learn some of the science behind what makes these sauces work.
One prominent family of sauces featuring butter is the Hollandaise family. Sauces in this group combine egg yolks, some acidic component, and butter into a topping that has both visual and flavor appeal. Once you learn the basics of Hollandaise, the techniques transfer to the related sauces.
Making Hollandaise Sauce - This classic sauce coaxes together liquids, oil and water, that would not normally mix. This combining process is known as emulsification. It begins by melting one cup of butter and keeping it quite warm. Combine three egg yolks and one tablespoon of lemon juice in a heavy saucepan. Heat and whisk the yolk mixture gently just until it begins to thicken. Drip in a small amount of the hot, melted butter while continually whisking. Continue to drizzle in the butter and stir until all of the butter is incorporated. Remove from heat. A well-made Hollandaise will keep for about 30 minutes before serving.
Sauce Secrets for a Great Hollandaise:
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Mind the Temperatures - Start with a cold saucepan, cold yolks, and cold lemon juice. Apply heat very gradually.
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Stir diligently - Throughout the process, stir the sauce continually with a whisk taking care to catch the edges and corners of the pan.
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 Add the warm, melted butter just as the yolks are beginning to thicken. Too early and the thickening will be slowed; too late and the yolks may curdle or scramble.
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Add the warm butter gradually, especially at the beginning. The egg yolks act as an emulsifier for combining the water-based juice with the oil-based butter; give them a chance to do their work.
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Some instructions for Hollandaise sauce call for reserving two tablespoons of cold butter. Add the first cold tablespoon to the yolk mixture at the start of heating. The cold butter moderates the heat application to the yolks. When the cold chunk of butter is completely melted and incorporated into the egg yolks, the remaining hot,melted butter may be drizzled in. Use the second cold tablespoon of butter to cool down the sauce at the very end.
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If the Hollandaise Sauce separates prior to serving, this may be the result of applying too much heat, adding the butter too quickly, or using too much butter. If the sauce is just beginning to separate you may be able to heal it with the addition of a tablespoon of cold water or cold cream.
Variations in the Hollandaise Family of Sauces - From this basic sauce wonderful variations are available:
Sauce Maltaise - This sauce adds one tablespoon of orange juice along with the lemon juice in the egg yolk mixture. An additional 3-4 ta blespoons of orange juice and a teaspoon of orange zest are whisked into the completed sauce.
Béarnaise Sauce - In this sauce, the lemon juice is replaced with a reduction of white wine vinegar laced with finely chopped shallots and tarragon. The result is a richly flavored sauce that complements meat, chicken, fish, and egg dishes.
Sauce Choron -To the basic Béarnaise Sauce, add 2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste before serving. This variation is also great with meat, chicken, fish and egg dishes.
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 White sauces, another classic family of sauces, begin with a mixture of flour and butter with different liquids and flavorings added for a wealth of possibilities.
A basic white sauce begins with four tablespoons of butter melted in a heavy saucepan. Six tablespoons of flour are added all at once to the melted butter. Over medium heat, the flour and butter mixture are continually stirred; this flour and butter mixture is known as a roux (rhymes with "boo"). The heat should be strong enough to keep the roux bubbling, but not so strong as to turn the mixture brown. Once the roux has cooked, add 2 cups of very hot milk to the roux all at once and stir briskly. The sauce will thicken quickly. Season the sauce with salt and pepper.
Sauce Secrets for Roux-based Sauces:
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Cook and stir the roux for a full 2 minutes before adding the liquid. During those two minutes, a chemical reaction takes place that eliminates any raw, pasty taste in the flour. Don't rush this step.
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Use a stainless steel or enameled saucepan with curved edges, also known as a saucier pan. The sloped sides of the pan make it easy to whisk and stir without any of the roux getting stuck in the corner of the pan and scorching.
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Heating the liquid to be added to a near boil will help prevent any lumps in the resulting sauce. If lumps should appear, whisk vigorously. If persistent, strain the sauce through a fine sieve.
Variations in the Roux-based Family of Sauces - From this basic white sauce many versatile variations are available:
Béchamel Sauce - This sauce is the classic white sauce where the liquid is milk. As a "mother sauce" it provides the basis for many other sauces. One variation calls for half beef stock and half milk for the liquid portion of the sauce.
Mornay Sauce - To the basic white sauce, grated cheese is added, half Gruyère and half Parmesan. The sauce is often served with seafood, vegetables, or as the base for a gratin.
Sauce Soubise - Onions (4 cups) are wilted in the butter before the roux's flour is added. At the finish, the sauce is pureed to smoothness. Add a few tablespoons of cream as the sauce is reheated, and you'll have a sublime result.
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Kitchen Window Smart Butter and Basic Sauce Tips |
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Tip #1: Sauce-making requires good use of a whisk. Whisks come in all different sizes and shapes. Each is designed to combine ingredients efficiently while incorporating air into the mixture. Use your wrist to work the whisk in a circular motion.
Tip #2: Serve compound butters for an easy, elegant touch. Devise your own compound butters by mixing finely chopped herbs into softened butter. Make sure fresh herbs are well air-dried after washing. Make a frugal version of truffle butter by adding several drops of truffle oil into softened butter. "Logs" of compound butters may be wrapped and frozen for future use.
Tip #3: For Hollandaise-like sauces with acidic ingredients, use a stainless steel or enameled saucepan to reduce any reactivity that might discolor or add an undesirable metallic flavor to the sauce. A thick-walled saucepan will promote the even transfer of heat and help prevent curdling and scorching.
Tip #4: Try different types of butter for nuanced tastes - butters from other regions or countries, or butter from goats or other animals.
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Tip #5: Present individual portions of butter at each table setting as small individual molds, or a series of butter curls. To curl butter, the butter must not be too cold or too hot. About 60 - 70° F is the perfect temperature for dragging a butter-curling tool along a stick of butter. After creating the curls and placing them on individual small plates, chill the dish until serving time. The butter will soften quickly once served. Molds used for candy-making may also be used to create individually-sized butter molds.
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 Q: What is clarified butter? What is ghee?
A: Clarified butter is nearly pure butterfat. Butter is melted separating its components into butterfat, water, and milk proteins. The foamy white particles formed from the milk proteins are skimmed away leaving the pure butterfat, or clarified butter. Ghee, popular in Indian cooking, is clarified butter that has been heated to 250° F evaporating any residual water and turning the milk proteins a golden color. The "toasted" milk proteins are removed from the butterfat, but leave behind a delicious nutty flavor. Click this link to view a mini-video of How to Clarify Butter. (Courtesy of the Wisconsin Cheese Board).
Q: What is the proper way to eat butter at the dining table?
 A: Butter at the dining table takes on a "condiment" role. Butter may be placed individually at each place setting, or served to diners from a common dish. At formal dinners, a butter knife will be a part of each place setting; it is a petite knife without sharp edges. When served bread, take a portion of butter from the common dish and place on the side of your bread plate. Break off a small, bite-sized portion of bread and using your butter knife, place butter on that piece only. Never slather a whole piece of bread with butter at one time, and do not create a "butter sandwich." "One bite at a time" is proper bread and butter etiquette.
Q: What is brown butter?
A: Brown butter, or beurre noisette, is a classic chef's secret for creating fantastic flavor. Cold butter is melted and allowed to barely simmer over heat. The milk proteins will produce a white foam on top. As the milk proteins "cook" they will brown and sink to the bottom. When the top foam of the butter is a light brown, remove from heat and allow it to cool. Strain the golden butter to remove any browned protein particles, then use as a simple sauce or sauce component. The "browning effect" of the heated proteins produces a wonderfully nutty flavor. Click this link to view a mini-video of How to Brown Butter. (Courtesy of the Wisconsin Cheese Board).
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The Silver Palate Cookbook, 25th Anniversary Edition by Julee Russo and Sheila Lukins. Published by Workman Publishing Company, Inc., New York, NY. Copyright 2007.
 We're always intrigued with the latest cookbook, but we often come back to the classics. How does a cookbook become a classic? It stands the test of time and produces reliable results again and again.
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A favorite cookbook will show the marks of true love -- the pages become tattered, perhaps a few splatters marks, or corners dogged-eared. The original Silver Palate Cookbook is one of those books in our kitchen. We're so pleased that Julee Russo and Sheila Lukins have decided to update their classic with The Silver Palate, 25th Anniversary Edition. The Silver Palate Cookbook grew out of their successful catering business and contains basics, but so much more. This cookbook has introduced countless individuals to the enjoyment of cooking one's own food, and the ease with which good-tasting, good-looking food can be assembled. The sidebars of each page are generously populated with tips and hints about the recipe, or perhaps about entertaining, or some fascinating back story. If you missed The Silver Palate the first time around, the 25th Anniversary Edition is ready for you now. You'll quickly understand why this cookbook has earned the reputation of "classic!" |
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Recipes excerpted from the Silver Palate Cookbook 25th Anniversary Edition by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. Copyright 2007. Used by permission of Workman Publishing Co., Inc. New York, NY. All Rights Reserved.
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Hollandaise Sauce with Spring Asparagus
Hollandaise Sauce is a perfect complement to spring's early vegetables - asparagus and artichokes - or drizzled on top of fish. Of course, a good Hollandaise tops the classic brunch dish, Eggs Benedict. Deploy this sauce on any occasion calling for a buttery, lemon flavor!
View recipe
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Béarnaise Sauce with Filet of Beef
In our early days of cooking, this sauce was the one that introduced us to the wonderful flavors of tarragon. The delicate herb, the piquant white wine vinegar, and aromatic shallots, awaken the palate preparing it for the full flavors of that which it graces. The classic pairing of Tenderloin of Beef with Béarnaise Sauce is a worthy place to begin your appreciation of this sauce.
View recipe
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Béchamel Sauce in Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna
True to its tagline, Béchamel Sauce is a "mother sauce." This sauce begins with a butter-flour roux and becomes a silky, smooth white sauce that can be transformed into any number of flavorful variations. With this Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna, the Béchamel Sauce takes the place of the red sauce found in traditional lasagna. Richly-flavored with onions and mushrooms, and brightly-colored with spinach and grated carrots, this lasagna is a hearty and satisfying do-ahead meal.
View recipe
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From all of us at Kitchen Window
Kitchen Window
Calhoun Square - 3001 Hennepin Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-824-4417 / 888-824-4417
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