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Play It Safe: 5 Steps for Handling Eggs

May 23, 2014 by

You parents have probably warned you about food-borne illness since you were just a child, but how much do you really know about handling raw eggs? These simple steps will teach you how to safely prepare and serve eggs.

  1. Purchase eggs in good quality. Only buy eggs from a refrigerated case, and open the carton to make sure that none of the eggs are cracked. Refrigerate them as soon as you get home.
  2. Know their expiration date. As a general rule, eggs are only good for about three weeks. After that, you should throw them out and buy a new carton.
  3. Cook thoroughly. When cooking eggs, make sure that there are no runny parts before serving. Things like casseroles and baked goods should be cooked to at least 160° Fahrenheit to ensure that the eggs inside are safe to eat.
  4. Serve properly. All foods containing eggs should be eaten immediately after cooking. To serve a large party buffet-style, keep hot dishes hot by using a slow cooker or heated serving pan.
  5. Store safely. If you must refrigerate a dish with eggs, be sure to use it within three to four days and reheat to at least 160° before serving.

Playing It Safe with Eggs [FDA]
Eggs & Food Safety [Incredible!]
Tips to Reduce Your Risk of Salmonella from Eggs [CDC]

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There’s No Need to Knead With These 4 Bread Recipes

May 9, 2014 by

Baking bread at home seems difficult, but no-knead recipes make it much easier than ever before. You’ll impress your family and your guests with the scent of freshly baked bread coming from the oven, and you’ll be the only one who knows just how easy it was to prepare.

No-Knead Bread [Steamy Kitchen]
This recipe creates a rustic, gourmet-looking loaf of bread, and it’s so simple that a four year old can make it— and one has! The New York Times made this no-knead recipe famous, but its reliability is what makes it so popular.

No-Knead Bread [Smitten Kitchen]
Using instant yeast to create a fluffy, dense center and a crispy outer crust, this incredible bread recipe is the perfect addition to any sandwich or evening meal.

No-Knead Crusty White Bread [King Arthur Flour]
If you want to make a large amount of bread for a gathering or holiday party, this is the recipe to use. It makes use of the same simple no-knead technique, but this recipe yields four full-sized loaves.

How to Make No-Knead Bread [The Kitchn]
This online tutorial will show you the most important steps for making no-knead bread, with detailed pictures along the way. It also includes video tutorials for certain techniques, such as shaping the dough into a perfect ball.

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Find Healthy Recipe Guides on this NIH Website

January 31, 2014 by

Grilled chicken and steamed vegetables are great, but eating the same meal every day can get boring pretty quickly. If you want to eat healthy meals without constantly making the same few dishes, these creative recipe guides from the NIH might just give you some new ideas:

Fun Family Recipes
Download convenient recipe cards to make planning healthy meals for the whole family easier than ever before. These fun recipes include things like Oatmeal Pecan Waffles and a Quinoa and Black Bean Salad that will keep even your pickiest eaters feeling full and energized.

Keep the Beat Deliciously Healthy Family Meals
This colorful online cookbook contains healthy family breakfasts, lunches and dinners that are simple and delicious. It even includes high-quality photos to help you get a better idea of what each dish should look like.

Visit the NIH website to discover even more healthy recipes!

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Cook Food to Its Safe Minimum Temperature

October 3, 2013 by

It's important to cook items to the proper temperature to prevent food borne illness, but it gets confusing keeping all those numbers straight. Check out this guide for the correct temperatures! 

  • Using a food thermometer is the best way to verify the correct temperature. You can't always tell if meat is done just by looking at it, even ground meat.
  • Some meats, like steaks, chops, roasts, fresh pork, and fresh ham, need extra resting time after they have been cooked, so that the temperature can continue to rise and kill harmful bacteria.
  • It's also important you cook to eggs to the proper temperature, but using a thermometer in scrambled eggs doesn't work. Just make sure the whites and yolks are firm before enjoying.
  • With some seafood, you can tell if it is fully cooked by looking. Clams and oysters should be cooked until the shell opens up. Shrimp, lobster, and crab need to be cooked until the skin is opaque. 

· Safe Minimum Cooking Temperatures [Foodsafety.gov]

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Cookbooks Every Cook Should Own

September 16, 2013 by

It's no secret that having a good selection of cookbooks on hand will greatly broaden your meal repertoire. But with so many available today, how do you know which ones are worth investing in? Below are a few books that any cook must have within arm's reach.

How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
Popular food writer Bittman is one of the best recipe developers alive today, and his cookbooks are easily readable and simple to follow. His massive collection covers the wide world of Western cooking with panache, and almost every recipe has a number of variations that allow you to spread your wings and make it your own.

The Silver Palate Cookbook by Sheila Lukins and Julie Rosso
This book is a classic, and was a must-have in all kitchens in the 1990s. And, luckily, it’s aged beautifully. The team of Lukins and Rosso present impressive, innovative dishes that draw from many different cultures, and all their directions are both clear and concise.

Complete Techniques by Jacques Pepin
This master of French food lays out the most vital skills a chef can acquire in this magnificently illustrated book. Although the recipes in this work are not the main selling point, they are still quite good. More importantly, this cookbook will help you learn how to handle yourself like a chef in your kitchen.

Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook by Martha Stewart
Baking can confuse even the best of chefs, as it asks you to be both a cook and a chemist. In Martha's encyclopedic volume, she presents a vast assortment of breads and sweets in intense detail (true to Martha Stewart form).

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Get Cooking: Fabulous Recipe Websites

January 3, 2013 by

The next time you’re not sure what to make for dinner or your next party, check out these super helpful recipe websites that will spark your culinary creativity. Whether you’re looking for a delicious appetizer, scrumptious entrée, or decadent dessert, these sites have you covered!

All Recipes – All Recipes offers a huge number of recipes — somewhere near 50,000! They're all printable, and many come with videos to help you get the preparation just right. There are other features too, like user ratings, guides to healthful meals, and recipe pairings for complete meals.

Epicurious – Epicurious collects recipes and more from some of the top food magazines around. Think Bon Apetit and Gourmet. The site's chock full of recipes from past issues, along with e-cookbooks, and guides to entertaining, healthy cooking, and even travel.

Food Network – The Food Network's website offers fabulous recipes from some of your favorite cooking show stars. You can search for lunch, breakfast, or dinner, and even look for dishes organized by what vegetables are in season!

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