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Cooking For the Holidays
Say Hello to Jell-O
There are so many things you can do with jell-o, and a jell-o recipe to go with almost any food you cook.
First, here are a few tips about working with jell-o:
*To remove from a mold, allow it to set until firm, if possible several hours or overnight.
*Run a small moist knife around the edge or release edges from mold with moist fingers before removing from mold.
*Dip the mold in warm water for about ten seconds, only to the rim of the mold.
*Chill the plates or whatever it will be served on.
*Moisten gelatin and place a moist serving plate on top, turn upside down and shake slightly.
*Gently remove the mold leaving gelatin on plate.
There is an entire language involved with making jell-o, and it pays to know what it means. Chill till slightly thickened means to chill for about 1 hour, or until it is the consistency of unbeaten egg whites.
Chill till set but not yet firm means to chill about 2 hours, it should stick to your finger if you touch it and move from side to side when the mold is tipped.
Chill till firm takes about 3 hours for 2 to 4 cup molds or 4 hours for 5 to 6 cup molds, the jell-o wont stick to your finger and will not mound or move if the mold is tipped.
Here are a few ideas for different types of foods, with pork chops try a salad made with strawberry jell-o, apples, celery, cinnamon and chopped nuts.
If you are having steaks try a fruit mix made of fruit cocktail and a touch of lemon juice. Fried chicken could call for a salad made of fruit cocktail, orange jell-o and lemon juice.
With ham prepare a pineapple lime delight made with pineapple juice lime jell-o and a ¼ teaspoon of ginger.
Whatever you are having for dinner tonight, prepare a luscious jell-o desert or salad to go with it.
See Also:
Crock Pot Lemon Chicken Recipe
Casseroles
The History of the Fry Pan
The ancient Mesopotamians used copper frying pans; they were also available in Greek and Roman kitchens.
To the Greeks they were know as Teganon and the Romans called them patella, patella is used in its modern form in Spanish and is translated as paella and in Italian as padella.
Regardless of the name, they are all frying pans! Frying pans were originally deep like modern sauce pans, in North America they are also referred to as skillets.
In England and America fry pans with legs were commonly called spiders, and were used for open hearth cooking.
Little change was made in the fry pan for many years, they had broad shallow bodies and long handles to keep the cooks hand from being burned by the fire.
The first use of the word fry pan was in 1382 when it was used in the translation of the Vulgate Bible by John Wycliffe, other than that, the term fry pan is infrequently used prior to the 1950s.
Frying pans were typically made of cast iron, and even though cast iron is still in use, mostly for outdoor cooking, most pans today are made of aluminum or stainless steel.
Often frying pans are coated with Teflon for a non-stick surface; this does not apply to cast iron, which develops a non stick surface when it is seasoned.
The largest fry pan in the world was created by Mumford Sheet Metal Works in 1950 for the Delmarva Chicken Festival; they fried over one hundred tons of chicken in it before it was retired in 1998.
It measures 10 feet in diameter, which is 4 inches bigger than the previous 9.6 ft Washington fry pan built in 1941 for the Washington Clam Festival.
Considered a luxury because of the high cost of electricity at the time, frying pans were one of the first items to be electrified.
In 1898 Britain an element fitted below the pan, with the socket at the end of a wooden handle. They never gained popularity even when electricity became a normal part of everyday life. |
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Casseroles
Pastas
Regardless of the meal, fine dining, family dinner or anything in-between, there is pasta to fit the bill. How many foods do you know of that go with almost any type of meat, seafood and vegetable?
The braver cooks can make their own pasta, from simple egg noodles to spinach pasta and herb pasta, it isnt really as difficult as you think, and that taste treat is well worth the work. You can cut and shape them by hand or purchase a pasta machine.
Shaping pasta is interesting; to make lasagna cut the dough into strips about 2 ½ inches wide, and then cut to preferred length. Farfel are 2 x 1 inch rectangles with the centers pinched creating little bow ties.
Tripoli are one inch circles with the centers pinched to fashion butterfly designs. To make linguine or fettuccine loosely roll the dough up like a jelly roll, cut 1/8 inch slices for linguine or ¼ inch slices for fettuccine, gently shaking the strands separates the noodles.
Homemade pasta can be stored in an airtight refrigerated container for up to 3 days. To freeze the pasta for up to 8 months, dry it for at least 1 hour, seal in a seal-a-meal or similar moisture and air proof bag and freeze.
If you arent into making your own you can buy any type you want in a super market near you.
A large saucepan or Dutch oven with lots of water is necessary to cook pasta, (about 3 quarts of water for 4 to 8 ounces of pasta).
Bring the water to a boil over high heat, adding a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of olive oil helps keep the pasta from sticking to itself.
Once the water boils, add the pasta slowly so the water continues to boil. Long pasta like spaghetti should be held by one end and placed in the water, as it softens, curve it around the pan and down into the water.
Reduce heat slightly and boil uncovered for the amount of time on the package, stirring occasionally.
When it is close to the end of the cooking time, check for doneness frequently. A little note for dieters, the longer pasta is cooked, the fewer calories it has.
Related Topics: Canning From the Ground Up,
Pressure Canning, Preparing More Than One Meal at a Time
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