Quick Tip: the Baking Trio

This quick tip might seem obvious to some, but I've been actively cooking (from scratch) in my kitchen for over 5 years and this has just now occurred to me. I use to keep my baking soda, baking powder and salt down in a cabinet with all of my other spices. If you bake often you know that these three are often used together in recipes including everything from quick breads, muffins and pancakes to cookies and cakes!

So here is my quick tip: store these three together in an easy to access spot! I have now moved this trio from my lower spice cabinet to an upper cabinet that also contains my measuring spoons and cups. I'm pretty sure my mom stores them in the same place in her kitchen, but I never noticed that they weren't with the other spices and I never thought to ask why they were stored separately!

My salt, baking soda and baking powder in their new home, right below the measuring utensils!

Got a tip you can share? Email it to us!

Navigating Bittman

When I first saw this massive cookbook on Betsy's counter I thought, "How in the world can that be a quick and easy to use book? It is so massive!!"

Here are a few of the things that I have employed to make "Navigating Bittman" a slightly easier task:

• Post it notes on the chapters. These are "permanent" post-its that mark all of the chapters that I access regularly. I don't have one for each chapter, but I might rethink that really soon since I've widened my horizons to include beans!!

• Star post-its. These mark recipes I want to try or ones that I have "on deck" to be made in the coming week. I also recently added a new star color to distinguish recipes that I need to review here on this blog.

• Quick list. This is yet another post-it note that is kept on the back cover of my book that contains the page numbers for all of my most popular recipes. So far it includes: Popcorn, Vinaigrettes, Crepes, Tomato Sauce, Bread Crumbs, Pizza and Flour.

What have you done to your Bittman book to make it easier to use?

Quick Tip: Measuring Flour

For most recipes that call for flour, getting the right amount is crucial. Following Alton Brown's lead I always weigh my flour instead of using a volumetric cup. Weighing your flour will give you more consistent results. Kitchen scales also come in handy for all sorts of things, but that post is for another day.

On page 836 of the HTCE (p.680 of HTCEV) book Bittman has a description of different types of flour. On this page I have written down the weights of the flours for one cup (non-sifted) and one cup sifted.

Here are the numbers for your reference:

• AP: 140g/115g
• Bread: 160g/130g
• Cake: 130g/100g
• Whole Wheat: 150g/130g
  

Quick Tip: Keeping Limes and Lemons Fresh

This one is straight out of Cook's Illustrated. I always buy lemons (or limes) for a recipe and then by the time I need them they have shriveled up. The solution? Keep them in a plastic baggie in the fridge! This will keep them fresh for weeks (instead of just 5-7 days at room temp.). They didn't mention limes in their article, but I am assuming it works for them as well.

Quick Tip: Letting Dough Rise

My pizza bianca rising in my small batter bowl. 

Started at 1 cup, so I know it needs to rise until 3 cups to be tripled in volume.

Most recipes (including Bittman's) call for you to let dough rise until it has doubled (or tripled) in size or let it rise for a set amount of time. Well, depending on your normal room temperature and where you place your dough while it rises can drastically change the amount of time it will take. I don't know about the rest of the cooks out there but I can never tell if the dough has truly doubled! I always think, "It kind of looks twice as big as it was...."

To help me determine when dough has reached that magical double (or triple) volume I have started to let all my doughs rise in my Pyrex measuring cups and other bowls with volumetric markings. This way I can literally watch the dough as it rises and I can tell when the dough has doubled or tripled without having to guess!

New Label: Quick Tip

I don't know if I stole this phrase from somewhere but this label will be used for posts that we think relate to cooking the "Bittman" way. Tips that will help you keep ingredients fresh, use the cook books more efficiently or other tips that have to do with "from scratch" cooking.

Enjoy!