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| Adapting Thai flavors to an American Kitchen |
| Peppers: Our Thai recipes represent the region's real cooking and, as a result, are very spicy. If you don't like hot food, decrease the chiles and peppercorns. Coconut milk:Although extracting fresh coconut milk is not hard, it is timeconsuming. We tasted the fresh milk side by side with diluted canned coconut milk and found the two almost identical in taste. Palm sugar: Palm sugar is made from the sap of the sugar palm tree. In Asian markets in the United States, it's sold in small, round crystallized blocks. Light brown sugar is an acceptable substitute. >> |
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| Add Flavor to Rice and Potatoes |
| To easily give rice and potatoes added flavor, cook them in half water and half chicken or vegetable broth. If you use low-sodium broth, you can cook your rice entirely in broth instead of water. |
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| Baking Tip |
| Check the potency of your backing powder to ensure that your muffins, cakes, and breads don't turn out flat. Combine one teaspoon of baking powder with one-third cup of hot water. If it bubbles vigorously it's fine. If not, you'll need a fresh can before beginning your recipe. |
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| Buttermilk Basics |
| Although buttermilk has a refrigerator shelf life up to three weeks, it tends to separate, so shaking is important. To make a quick stand-in for buttermilk, stir one tablespoon of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar into one cup of milk, and let it stand for about 10 minutes or until the milk thickens and begins to curdle. |
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| Caribbean pepper tips |
| Leaving the seeds intact increases the heat. Also, when you're using hot peppers such as the Scotch bonnet or habanero, it's wise to use gloves. If you don't have gloves, wash your hands immediately after cutting the peppers, and keep your hands away from your face. |
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| Chopping Tomatoes |
| To avoid the messiness of chopping canned tomatoes on a cutting board, use kitchen shears and chop them in the can. |
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| Clumping and Lumping |
| Though powdered sugar contains some cornstarch, it can still clump, especially in high humidity. If it's lumpy, sift before measuring. To soften brown sugar, add a cut apple to the container, close it, and wait a day or so. Another remedy is to smash the dried sugar into clumps, put them into a shallow pan, and spritz them lightly with water. Cover the pan lightly with foil and heat in a warm oven (about 225 ) for 15 minutes or until the sugar has regained its softness. Cool before using. |
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| Crystallized Honey or Syrup |
| Sometimes honey and syrup crystallize after long storage. To reliquefy them, leave in the jar and place in a saucepan of water over low heat until the crystals dissolve. Measure and use what you'll need. Or remove the metal lid and microwave at high for 15 to 60 seconds. |
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| Dressing an Italian salad |
| According to an Italian proverb, it takes four people to dress a salad well: a wise person for the salt, a generous person for the extra-virgin olive oil, a stingy person for the red wine vinegar, and a patient person to toss it all together. (Sometimes the proverb calls for a wealthy person adding balsamic vinegar.) |
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| Finding Fancy Pasta |
| If you can't find certain shapes, sizes, and well-made pasta at local gourmet food stores, you can order specialty pasta via the Internet. Try www.marxfoods.com , www.bellaitaliaonline.com , www.farawayfoods.com , www.flyingnoodle.com , and www.amazon.com for specialty Italian pasta. |
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| Fish Stocks |
| After cleaning or eating shellfish, rinse the shells, place them in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag, label and date them, and freeze them for later use. Frozen shells last about 90 days. When it's time to make the stock, roast the shells in a roasting pan for 30 minutes or until they're toasted before adding to the liquid; cooking them first heightens the flavor. |
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