Mari Collier's Blog - Posts Tagged "experiments"
A Matter of Chemistry
There have been several “Aha” moments while cooking and baking. That is when I gained a better understanding of what I was doing. The finished product could always use an enhancement or adjustment to the recipe.
The first “aha” occurred before I was married and wonderment in the kitchen settled in my mind. What if a different spice or different flavoring were used instead of what the directions specified? Would the taste sensation be enhanced, improved, different, or not good at all? This speculation was easy to test and worked quite well with any type of chili or soup. Such spices as savory, marjoram, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon juice, or white pepper were some of the ingredients I tried. Gradually, I added other main dishes, vegetables, salads, you name the type, and I added or adjusted something.
The next revelation occurred after my marriage. I was discussing my mother’s disastrous cakes and incredibly delicious pies with a friend during a coffee klatch. Mama always insisted sugar “killed.” She then reduced by ¼ or 1/8 a cup the sugar called for in a recipe for cakes. She did not use a recipe for her wonderful fruit filled pies. The one cake-like dessert she made (called bird’s nest pudding) was also superb. The bird’s nest pudding was essentially a spice cake batter poured over fresh, sliced apples sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. The fruit she was using came from our garden or our orchard. It was not the hard or mushy tasteless fruit found in today’s supermarkets. We picked the fruit when ripe and used it immediately. Since the fruits were filled with their own natural sweetness, they needed far less sugar. Years later I discovered that we called bird’s nest pudding and the desert Southerners called Apple Pan Dowdy were the same.
Once I realized the natural sugar compensated for the sugar she left out, I realized that she cut the volume of dry ingredients in a cake. It couldn't rise properly if the dry ingredients weren't in ratio to the liquid and leavening used while under going a transformation by heat in the oven. I felt like shouting eureka. Heat transformed the batter. It was a form of science and mathematics; in other words chemistry. That meant I could make my own recipes as long as I kept the volume of dry and liquid ingredients in the proper proportion.
The better understanding came when preparing a white sauce. It starts out with a set of measured ingredients rather than the “use the grease from the roast or frying, add flour, mix until thickened and gradually add broth, potato water, and/or milk we did in the farm kitchen. Everything in a white sauce (or any sauce) is measured. Seasonings on the farm were to taste. No matter, I realized that gravy is thus a sauce, but usually made in larger quantities than the recipes in cookbooks, magazines, or the newspapers
Another aha revelation occurred when I was with my mother-in-law while visiting her renters at a home in Phoenix. I looked at the green chili and couldn't help but remark, “You have put peas in your green chili.
Bernice smiled at me. “Of course, but you have to realize that cooking in Mexico is like cooking anywhere. You use the products available. Just remember that Colorado (red) or Verde (green) chili are basically meat stews.”
This opened a whole new venue for my green chili. The red chili I didn't change. It was one of my husband’s favorites and contained nothing but meat, onions, garlic, and red chili peppers. I would occasionally mince bell pepper really fine and throw that in for flavor. The green chili, however, I could experiment and did. I used potatoes, carrots, bell peppers (along with the green chilies canned or fresh), onions, and garlic until I had a dish that we both liked. Later I added cumin.
While in Arizona, I did not have too many chances to experiment as my garden wasn't that large. Working outside the home also took away a big chunk of my time. It was while I was in Washington and not working outside the home that I began to really experiment and this is the story of one of them.
Wild fruit is abundant in Washington and there are farms and farmers markets with field fresh fruit from early spring until late fall at a price that makes canning and preserving cost effective. My mother-in-law lived with us and needed a certain amount of care. We also had an acre of over-grown wild shrubs and berry bushes to clear; plus two teenagers who were traumatized by the move from Arizona. We discovered a building we didn't know was there, several rhododendrons, and huckleberry bushes, both red and blue, while clearing the blackberry brambles. The blue huckleberries from two bushes were as large as blueberries. We did leave a number of the blackberry and the loganberry bushes.
Mark Twain named one of his main characters Huckleberry. Old stories mention huckleberry pie, but there were no recipes for huckleberry pie in modern cookbooks. Red huckleberries were easy to substitute when making jams or jellies, but making a pie was more difficult as huckleberries are not as juicy as blueberries and they are tarter.
I finally combined two of my favorite desserts: fruit pie and cheese cake. The recipe follows. Oh yes, if blue huckleberries are not common in your area, frozen blueberries work just as well. It was necessary to freeze the huckleberries to extract the amount of juice needed while cooking them. It was chemistry.
HUCK FINN CHEESE PIE
2 1/2 Cups frozen blue huckleberries 1 ½ Cups Sugar
(Substitute frozen blue berries) 8 Oz. Package Cream Cheese
3 Tbs. Cornstarch ½ Cup Milk
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice 1 Tsp. Vanilla
1/2 Tsp. Salt Dash of Cinnamon
2 Eggs 1 Unbaked 9 ½ to 10 In. pie flan (high rim)
Heat oven to 4000
Defrost the huckleberries (or blueberries). Combine huckleberries, 1 cup of the sugar, 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon of salt, lemon juice, and dash of cinnamon in three quart pan. Cook over moderate heat 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently until thickened and clear. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
While fruit mixture is cooling soften cream cheese (30 to 40 seconds in microwave) and blend in ½ cup of sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt. Beat in eggs one-at-a time using an electric mixer. Blend in milk and vanilla on low speed. Pour the blue huckleberry mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Next, pour the cream cheese mixture slowly over the top. Do this in a circular motion.
Bake on lowest shelf in oven at 4000 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 3250 and bake for 40 to 50 minutes longer until top is golden brown (not burned) and center is set. Let cool before serving. It tastes best if put into the refrigerator and served cold. You can use whipping cream as a topping, but this pie is rich enough without it.
Note: You can use a regular pie crust, a butter crust, or a crumb crust. My family preferred the regular pie crust.
The first “aha” occurred before I was married and wonderment in the kitchen settled in my mind. What if a different spice or different flavoring were used instead of what the directions specified? Would the taste sensation be enhanced, improved, different, or not good at all? This speculation was easy to test and worked quite well with any type of chili or soup. Such spices as savory, marjoram, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon juice, or white pepper were some of the ingredients I tried. Gradually, I added other main dishes, vegetables, salads, you name the type, and I added or adjusted something.
The next revelation occurred after my marriage. I was discussing my mother’s disastrous cakes and incredibly delicious pies with a friend during a coffee klatch. Mama always insisted sugar “killed.” She then reduced by ¼ or 1/8 a cup the sugar called for in a recipe for cakes. She did not use a recipe for her wonderful fruit filled pies. The one cake-like dessert she made (called bird’s nest pudding) was also superb. The bird’s nest pudding was essentially a spice cake batter poured over fresh, sliced apples sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. The fruit she was using came from our garden or our orchard. It was not the hard or mushy tasteless fruit found in today’s supermarkets. We picked the fruit when ripe and used it immediately. Since the fruits were filled with their own natural sweetness, they needed far less sugar. Years later I discovered that we called bird’s nest pudding and the desert Southerners called Apple Pan Dowdy were the same.
Once I realized the natural sugar compensated for the sugar she left out, I realized that she cut the volume of dry ingredients in a cake. It couldn't rise properly if the dry ingredients weren't in ratio to the liquid and leavening used while under going a transformation by heat in the oven. I felt like shouting eureka. Heat transformed the batter. It was a form of science and mathematics; in other words chemistry. That meant I could make my own recipes as long as I kept the volume of dry and liquid ingredients in the proper proportion.
The better understanding came when preparing a white sauce. It starts out with a set of measured ingredients rather than the “use the grease from the roast or frying, add flour, mix until thickened and gradually add broth, potato water, and/or milk we did in the farm kitchen. Everything in a white sauce (or any sauce) is measured. Seasonings on the farm were to taste. No matter, I realized that gravy is thus a sauce, but usually made in larger quantities than the recipes in cookbooks, magazines, or the newspapers
Another aha revelation occurred when I was with my mother-in-law while visiting her renters at a home in Phoenix. I looked at the green chili and couldn't help but remark, “You have put peas in your green chili.
Bernice smiled at me. “Of course, but you have to realize that cooking in Mexico is like cooking anywhere. You use the products available. Just remember that Colorado (red) or Verde (green) chili are basically meat stews.”
This opened a whole new venue for my green chili. The red chili I didn't change. It was one of my husband’s favorites and contained nothing but meat, onions, garlic, and red chili peppers. I would occasionally mince bell pepper really fine and throw that in for flavor. The green chili, however, I could experiment and did. I used potatoes, carrots, bell peppers (along with the green chilies canned or fresh), onions, and garlic until I had a dish that we both liked. Later I added cumin.
While in Arizona, I did not have too many chances to experiment as my garden wasn't that large. Working outside the home also took away a big chunk of my time. It was while I was in Washington and not working outside the home that I began to really experiment and this is the story of one of them.
Wild fruit is abundant in Washington and there are farms and farmers markets with field fresh fruit from early spring until late fall at a price that makes canning and preserving cost effective. My mother-in-law lived with us and needed a certain amount of care. We also had an acre of over-grown wild shrubs and berry bushes to clear; plus two teenagers who were traumatized by the move from Arizona. We discovered a building we didn't know was there, several rhododendrons, and huckleberry bushes, both red and blue, while clearing the blackberry brambles. The blue huckleberries from two bushes were as large as blueberries. We did leave a number of the blackberry and the loganberry bushes.
Mark Twain named one of his main characters Huckleberry. Old stories mention huckleberry pie, but there were no recipes for huckleberry pie in modern cookbooks. Red huckleberries were easy to substitute when making jams or jellies, but making a pie was more difficult as huckleberries are not as juicy as blueberries and they are tarter.
I finally combined two of my favorite desserts: fruit pie and cheese cake. The recipe follows. Oh yes, if blue huckleberries are not common in your area, frozen blueberries work just as well. It was necessary to freeze the huckleberries to extract the amount of juice needed while cooking them. It was chemistry.
HUCK FINN CHEESE PIE
2 1/2 Cups frozen blue huckleberries 1 ½ Cups Sugar
(Substitute frozen blue berries) 8 Oz. Package Cream Cheese
3 Tbs. Cornstarch ½ Cup Milk
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice 1 Tsp. Vanilla
1/2 Tsp. Salt Dash of Cinnamon
2 Eggs 1 Unbaked 9 ½ to 10 In. pie flan (high rim)
Heat oven to 4000
Defrost the huckleberries (or blueberries). Combine huckleberries, 1 cup of the sugar, 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon of salt, lemon juice, and dash of cinnamon in three quart pan. Cook over moderate heat 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently until thickened and clear. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
While fruit mixture is cooling soften cream cheese (30 to 40 seconds in microwave) and blend in ½ cup of sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt. Beat in eggs one-at-a time using an electric mixer. Blend in milk and vanilla on low speed. Pour the blue huckleberry mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Next, pour the cream cheese mixture slowly over the top. Do this in a circular motion.
Bake on lowest shelf in oven at 4000 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 3250 and bake for 40 to 50 minutes longer until top is golden brown (not burned) and center is set. Let cool before serving. It tastes best if put into the refrigerator and served cold. You can use whipping cream as a topping, but this pie is rich enough without it.
Note: You can use a regular pie crust, a butter crust, or a crumb crust. My family preferred the regular pie crust.
A Matter of Chemistry
There have been several “Aha” moments while cooking and baking. That is when I gained a better understanding of what I was doing. The finished product could always use an enhancement or adjustment to the recipe.
The first “aha” occurred before I was married and wonderment in the kitchen settled in my mind. What if a different spice or different flavoring were used instead of what the directions specified? Would the taste sensation be enhanced, improved, different, or not good at all? This speculation was easy to test and worked quite well with any type of chili or soup. Such spices as savory, marjoram, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon juice, or white pepper were some of the ingredients I tried. Gradually, I added other main dishes, vegetables, salads, you name the type, and I added or adjusted something.
The next revelation occurred after my marriage. I was discussing my mother’s disastrous cakes and incredibly delicious pies with a friend during a coffee klatch. Mama always insisted sugar “killed.” She then reduced by ¼ or 1/8 a cup the sugar called for in a recipe for cakes. She did not use a recipe for her wonderful fruit filled pies. The one cake-like dessert she made (called bird’s nest pudding) was also superb. The bird’s nest pudding was essentially a spice cake batter poured over fresh, sliced apples sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. The fruit she was using came from our garden or our orchard. It was not the hard or mushy tasteless fruit found in today’s supermarkets. We picked the fruit when ripe and used it immediately. Since the fruits were filled with their own natural sweetness, they needed far less sugar. Years later I discovered that we called bird’s nest pudding and the desert Southerners called Apple Pan Dowdy were the same.
Once I realized the natural sugar compensated for the sugar she left out, I realized that she cut the volume of dry ingredients in a cake. It couldn't rise properly if the dry ingredients weren't in ratio to the liquid and leavening used while under going a transformation by heat in the oven. I felt like shouting eureka. Heat transformed the batter. It was a form of science and mathematics; in other words chemistry. That meant I could make my own recipes as long as I kept the volume of dry and liquid ingredients in the proper proportion.
The better understanding came when preparing a white sauce. It starts out with a set of measured ingredients rather than the “use the grease from the roast or frying, add flour, mix until thickened and gradually add broth, potato water, and/or milk we did in the farm kitchen. Everything in a white sauce (or any sauce) is measured. Seasonings on the farm were to taste. No matter, I realized that gravy is thus a sauce, but usually made in larger quantities than the recipes in cookbooks, magazines, or the newspapers
Another aha revelation occurred when I was with my mother-in-law while visiting her renters at a home in Phoenix. I looked at the green chili and couldn't help but remark, “You have put peas in your green chili.
Bernice smiled at me. “Of course, but you have to realize that cooking in Mexico is like cooking anywhere. You use the products available. Just remember that Colorado (red) or Verde (green) chili are basically meat stews.”
This opened a whole new venue for my green chili. The red chili I didn't change. It was one of my husband’s favorites and contained nothing but meat, onions, garlic, and red chili peppers. I would occasionally mince bell pepper really fine and throw that in for flavor. The green chili, however, I could experiment and did. I used potatoes, carrots, bell peppers (along with the green chilies canned or fresh), onions, and garlic until I had a dish that we both liked. Later I added cumin.
While in Arizona, I did not have too many chances to experiment as my garden wasn't that large. Working outside the home also took away a big chunk of my time. It was while I was in Washington and not working outside the home that I began to really experiment and this is the story of one of them.
Wild fruit is abundant in Washington and there are farms and farmers markets with field fresh fruit from early spring until late fall at a price that makes canning and preserving cost effective. My mother-in-law lived with us and needed a certain amount of care. We also had an acre of over-grown wild shrubs and berry bushes to clear; plus two teenagers who were traumatized by the move from Arizona. We discovered a building we didn't know was there, several rhododendrons, and huckleberry bushes, both red and blue, while clearing the blackberry brambles. The blue huckleberries from two bushes were as large as blueberries. We did leave a number of the blackberry and the loganberry bushes.
Mark Twain named one of his main characters Huckleberry. Old stories mention huckleberry pie, but there were no recipes for huckleberry pie in modern cookbooks. Red huckleberries were easy to substitute when making jams or jellies, but making a pie was more difficult as huckleberries are not as juicy as blueberries and they are tarter.
I finally combined two of my favorite desserts: fruit pie and cheese cake. The recipe follows. Oh yes, if blue huckleberries are not common in your area, frozen blueberries work just as well. It was necessary to freeze the huckleberries to extract the amount of juice needed while cooking them. It was chemistry.
HUCK FINN CHEESE PIE
2 1/2 Cups frozen blue huckleberries 1 ½ Cups Sugar
(Substitute frozen blue berries) 8 Oz. Package Cream Cheese
3 Tbs. Cornstarch ½ Cup Milk
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice 1 Tsp. Vanilla
1/2 Tsp. Salt Dash of Cinnamon
2 Eggs 1 Unbaked 9 ½ to 10 In. pie flan (high rim)
Heat oven to 400
Defrost the huckleberries (or blueberries). Combine huckleberries, 1 cup of the sugar, 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon of salt, lemon juice, and dash of cinnamon in three quart pan. Cook over moderate heat 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently until thickened and clear. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
While fruit mixture is cooling soften cream cheese (30 to 40 seconds in microwave) and blend in ½ cup of sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt. Beat in eggs one-at-a time using an electric mixer. Blend in milk and vanilla on low speed. Pour the blue huckleberry mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Next, pour the cream cheese mixture slowly over the top. Do this in a circular motion.
Bake on lowest shelf in oven at 400 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 and bake for 40 to 50 minutes longer until top is golden brown (not burned) and center is set. Let cool before serving. It tastes best if put into the refrigerator and served cold. You can use whipping cream as a topping, but this pie is rich enough without it.
Note: You can use a regular pie crust, a butter crust, or a crumb crust. My family preferred the regular pie crust.
The first “aha” occurred before I was married and wonderment in the kitchen settled in my mind. What if a different spice or different flavoring were used instead of what the directions specified? Would the taste sensation be enhanced, improved, different, or not good at all? This speculation was easy to test and worked quite well with any type of chili or soup. Such spices as savory, marjoram, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon juice, or white pepper were some of the ingredients I tried. Gradually, I added other main dishes, vegetables, salads, you name the type, and I added or adjusted something.
The next revelation occurred after my marriage. I was discussing my mother’s disastrous cakes and incredibly delicious pies with a friend during a coffee klatch. Mama always insisted sugar “killed.” She then reduced by ¼ or 1/8 a cup the sugar called for in a recipe for cakes. She did not use a recipe for her wonderful fruit filled pies. The one cake-like dessert she made (called bird’s nest pudding) was also superb. The bird’s nest pudding was essentially a spice cake batter poured over fresh, sliced apples sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. The fruit she was using came from our garden or our orchard. It was not the hard or mushy tasteless fruit found in today’s supermarkets. We picked the fruit when ripe and used it immediately. Since the fruits were filled with their own natural sweetness, they needed far less sugar. Years later I discovered that we called bird’s nest pudding and the desert Southerners called Apple Pan Dowdy were the same.
Once I realized the natural sugar compensated for the sugar she left out, I realized that she cut the volume of dry ingredients in a cake. It couldn't rise properly if the dry ingredients weren't in ratio to the liquid and leavening used while under going a transformation by heat in the oven. I felt like shouting eureka. Heat transformed the batter. It was a form of science and mathematics; in other words chemistry. That meant I could make my own recipes as long as I kept the volume of dry and liquid ingredients in the proper proportion.
The better understanding came when preparing a white sauce. It starts out with a set of measured ingredients rather than the “use the grease from the roast or frying, add flour, mix until thickened and gradually add broth, potato water, and/or milk we did in the farm kitchen. Everything in a white sauce (or any sauce) is measured. Seasonings on the farm were to taste. No matter, I realized that gravy is thus a sauce, but usually made in larger quantities than the recipes in cookbooks, magazines, or the newspapers
Another aha revelation occurred when I was with my mother-in-law while visiting her renters at a home in Phoenix. I looked at the green chili and couldn't help but remark, “You have put peas in your green chili.
Bernice smiled at me. “Of course, but you have to realize that cooking in Mexico is like cooking anywhere. You use the products available. Just remember that Colorado (red) or Verde (green) chili are basically meat stews.”
This opened a whole new venue for my green chili. The red chili I didn't change. It was one of my husband’s favorites and contained nothing but meat, onions, garlic, and red chili peppers. I would occasionally mince bell pepper really fine and throw that in for flavor. The green chili, however, I could experiment and did. I used potatoes, carrots, bell peppers (along with the green chilies canned or fresh), onions, and garlic until I had a dish that we both liked. Later I added cumin.
While in Arizona, I did not have too many chances to experiment as my garden wasn't that large. Working outside the home also took away a big chunk of my time. It was while I was in Washington and not working outside the home that I began to really experiment and this is the story of one of them.
Wild fruit is abundant in Washington and there are farms and farmers markets with field fresh fruit from early spring until late fall at a price that makes canning and preserving cost effective. My mother-in-law lived with us and needed a certain amount of care. We also had an acre of over-grown wild shrubs and berry bushes to clear; plus two teenagers who were traumatized by the move from Arizona. We discovered a building we didn't know was there, several rhododendrons, and huckleberry bushes, both red and blue, while clearing the blackberry brambles. The blue huckleberries from two bushes were as large as blueberries. We did leave a number of the blackberry and the loganberry bushes.
Mark Twain named one of his main characters Huckleberry. Old stories mention huckleberry pie, but there were no recipes for huckleberry pie in modern cookbooks. Red huckleberries were easy to substitute when making jams or jellies, but making a pie was more difficult as huckleberries are not as juicy as blueberries and they are tarter.
I finally combined two of my favorite desserts: fruit pie and cheese cake. The recipe follows. Oh yes, if blue huckleberries are not common in your area, frozen blueberries work just as well. It was necessary to freeze the huckleberries to extract the amount of juice needed while cooking them. It was chemistry.
HUCK FINN CHEESE PIE
2 1/2 Cups frozen blue huckleberries 1 ½ Cups Sugar
(Substitute frozen blue berries) 8 Oz. Package Cream Cheese
3 Tbs. Cornstarch ½ Cup Milk
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice 1 Tsp. Vanilla
1/2 Tsp. Salt Dash of Cinnamon
2 Eggs 1 Unbaked 9 ½ to 10 In. pie flan (high rim)
Heat oven to 400
Defrost the huckleberries (or blueberries). Combine huckleberries, 1 cup of the sugar, 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon of salt, lemon juice, and dash of cinnamon in three quart pan. Cook over moderate heat 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently until thickened and clear. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
While fruit mixture is cooling soften cream cheese (30 to 40 seconds in microwave) and blend in ½ cup of sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt. Beat in eggs one-at-a time using an electric mixer. Blend in milk and vanilla on low speed. Pour the blue huckleberry mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Next, pour the cream cheese mixture slowly over the top. Do this in a circular motion.
Bake on lowest shelf in oven at 400 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 and bake for 40 to 50 minutes longer until top is golden brown (not burned) and center is set. Let cool before serving. It tastes best if put into the refrigerator and served cold. You can use whipping cream as a topping, but this pie is rich enough without it.
Note: You can use a regular pie crust, a butter crust, or a crumb crust. My family preferred the regular pie crust.
