Sous Vide Cooking

 Have you ever heard of Sous Vide Cooking?  I have heard of it but never had tasted it. 

According to Wikipedia, Sous Vide is the French for under vacuum.   Sous Vide Cooking is known as low temperature long time cooking which is a method of cooking in which the food is place in a plastic pour and cooked in a water bath for longer than usual cooking times at a precisely regulated temperature.

Recently, I have had the opportunity to review a Sous Vide device and over the past week-end, we have cooked not once but twice with it.

The pictures included in this post show you the second meal we have made which was a roast.

We have put the roast in a plastic bag and remove the air in the bag using a vacuum sealer machine.  You can also use a Ziploc bag and press carefully to remove all the air.

Afterward, we set up the Sous Vide cooking device on either a pot that can contain a large quantity of water or a Sous Vide container like this one below.

Our Sous Vide device is KitchenBoss G320 model.  This one is somewhat different than other models on the market as it allows the water to circulate in the container allowing the meat to be cook equally.  This model possess a color LCD allowing you to pick an already set mode or set your own mode like we did below.   We have set the temperature to 140F and the cooking time to 2 hours.

Once the water has reached the desired temperature, you simply have to put your bag in the water to cook it.

 

Once cooked, we can cook the meat to grill it - this usually take less time that you would do usually since you already cooked it sous vide style.  For the roast, we cooked it approximately for 15 minutes in the air fryer.  Look at this beautiful piece of meat!  

We really enjoyed both the meals we have done with the sous vide kitchen tool.   This has become my husband favorite item in the kitchen apart from the air fryer.

The meat was so tender it was almost unbelievable.  Everyone enjoyed their meal when we used it.  

Below are the items we use for sous vide cooking:

KitchenBoss Sous Vide G320

Automatic Vacuum to remove the air 

Rubbermaid 12 Quart Container

Philips Air Fryer XXL 

Two items that we would like to add eventually would be:

Cover for the Rubbermaid 12 Quart Container

 

The rack to hold items in the Rubbermaid Container

Have you ever eaten something cooked Sous Vide?   I would strongly recommend that you try it out.  It is definitively an item that will be part of our lives for years to come.   We look forward in discovering other type of meat to cook with this technique. 

Bon Appétit!

Maple Syrup Cookbook

 

Maple Syrup Cookbook
Written by: Ken Haedrich

About the Book

Maple Syrup Cookbook has convinced thousands of readers that maple syrup makes everything taste better. Now, the revised third edition of this classic cookbook features full-color photographs and a dozen of the author’s favorite new recipes. In all, the book now offers more than 100 ways to enjoy maple syrup at every meal, including Buttermilk Corn Cakes, Banana Crêpes with Maple Rum Sauce (perfect for brunch), Maple Cream Scones, Lacy Sweet-Potato Patties, Maple Bacon Strata, Curried Pumpkin-Apple Soup, Creamy Maple Fondue, Maple-Glazed Brussels Sprouts, Orange-Maple Wings, Beet and Pear Relish, Maple-Roasted Root Vegetables, Steamed Brown Bread, Maple Onion Marmalade, Hot & Spicy Shrimp Kabobs, Chicken with Maple-Mustard Glaze, and Crispy Maple Spareribs. There are barbecue sauces and salad dressings and dozens of tempting desserts, from Almond Bars and Coffee Chip Cookies to Maple Apple Pie, Maple Pecan Pie, Maple-Ginger Ice Cream, and much more. There’s even a recipe for Maple Bread-and-Butter Pickles. This is a treasure chest of delightful recipes you’ll turn to again and again.

My Thoughts

I was born and raised in Quebec - the place on earth where you can find maple syrup practically everywhere!  After all Quebec is the province in Canada that produces about 9 million gallons of the maple syrup every year.

Maple syrup was part of my growing up in numerous ways - from breakfast with French bread, supper with homemade crêpes to dessert with the famous maple syrup pie my mom made on a regular basis (One of the best pie ever! Not to be confused with the sugar pie in any way.).  My mother's side of the family used to have a little maple syrup production on the land they owned.   I also remember visiting sugar bush places numerous times while growing up.  Once we had children, we went to a private sugar bush to see how maple syrup was done thanks to a co-worker of my husband who also owned a farm with one on it.

But let's get back to the book.   Most people will associate maple syrup with sweets like breakfast or dessert.  But did you know that you can use maple syrup pretty much in any kind of meal of side dish?

In this stunning cookbook which is all about maple syrup, you will find recipes for breakfast and desserts for sure but also much more than just that.  Here is a bird's eye view of the table of content:

• Maple from Tree to Table: In this section, you will learn more about maple syrup, how it is produced, how it is graded and its taste and how does it fit in your kitchen.
• Maple Mornings - Breakfast Classics, Breakfast Sweets, Breakfast Savories, and Breakfast Extras.
• Beyond Breakfast - Soups & Starters, Salads & Sauces, Vegetables & Sides, Main Dishes.
• Maple Sweets - Bars, Cookies & Candy, Pies & Cakes, Pudding & More.

Below are two of the recipes found in the cookbook.   You must admit that there looks delicious!

Nowadays, I have cut drastically on sugar intake in my diet but I will admit to you that every once in a while a bit of maple syrup is enjoyed by yours truly.   Maple Syrup is definitively part of my life and will continue to add a bit of sweet in my meals just to tease my taste buds.  Having this recipe book will help to diversify the recipes using maple syrup.

Maple Syrup Cookbook is available for purchase at your favorite bookstore, even on Amazon.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Storey Publishing for sending me this book for review purposes.  I was not monetarily compensated for this review.  Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way.  All opinion expressed here are only my own.

Shape+Store Burger Master

We used to purchase our burger patties at Costco and have ground beef patties in our freezer at all time.  But with the price of beef that keeps going higher we have switched to ground pork.  However, I dislike making burger patties by hand because they are never the same size.   One day, my husband decided to purchase the Shape+Store Burger Master to see how it would work. 

Burger Master is a silicone device that allows you to shape your burger patties so that you can freeze them rapidly in the perfect shape.   The shape looks like a beehive.

All you have to do is purchase your meat and add the spices you desire to put in order to add flavor to your burger patties.   Then with your hands (washed!) you push the meat inside the bottom section in order to fill it up

Once you are done, you simply put the top portion over and push it in order to divide the burger patties in the silicone container.  Make sure that the top is properly pushed in on all sides.

And then all you have to do is put the Shape+Store Burger Master in your freezer in order to freezer your newly made burger patties.

We originally purchase two Burger Masters but since then we have purchased two other ones in order to make more burger patties for our family of six people.   These stack nicely in the freezer and barely take any space whatsoever.  I love the flexibility of making my own burgers and have different flavor too.  I highly recommend the Burger Master for an easy way to make your own burger patties.

Shape+Store makes different containers for different purposes.  As you have seen the Burger Master allows you to make delicious burger patties.   They also have containers to make meatballs as well as one for separating the cookie dough into portions to make individual cookies.

You can find the products from Shape+Store at Amazon.ca as well as Amazon.com.

Burgers
  

 Meatballs
     

 Cookies
     

Disclaimer:  I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Julia Child–An Extraordinary Life in Words and Pictures

Julia Child – An Extraordinary Life in Words and Pictures
Written by Erin Hagar
Published at duopress

About the book

Julia Child knew how to have fun, and she also knew how to whip up a delightful meal. After traveling around the world working for the U.S. government, Julia found her calling in the kitchen and devoted her life to learning, perfecting, and sharing the art of French cuisine. This delicious, illustrated biography is a portrait of the remarkable woman, author, and TV personality who captured our hearts with her sparkling personality. “Bon appétit!”

My Thoughts

Through the pages of this book, you will discover and be immersed in the life of Julia Child and how she became a popular cook on television.  You will learn how she grew up, how she meet the one who will become her husband and how she became passionate about cooking.   In all there are fourteen chapters in this book.   It could easily be use as a study of a woman who did not hesitate to follow her dream even in the midst of stereotypes and discouraging remarks.  

Illustrations throughout the book will help the reader to have a better understand of what is presented through the pages.   No photographs are included in this book but the illustrations seem to be realistic.  If you enjoy the book  you have the possibility of visiting the kitchen of Julia Child in the Smithsonian museum in Washington, DC.   This book is perfect for ages 9 to 12 years old.   It contains 160 pages of information on the life of Julia Child.  The book also highlights other books in the bibliography.   A glossary will help the reader to understand some words found in the book and a timeline will help to visualize the events in the life of Julia Child.

Julia Child is a fun book to have to discover the life of a woman who was not afraid of learning and becoming a person of influence in the world of cooking.

Julia Child is available at your favorite bookstore, even on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Thomas Allen for sending me the above mentioned books for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Summer Boutique at DK Canada

Summer is just around the corner and with it DK Canada has cooked up numerous titles that might interest you in their Summer Living Boutique.  There are numerous titles for everyone in this boutique whether you want to try something new or simply learn more on a specific subject.

The first book from the Summer Living Boutique that I requested to review is the Practical Astronomer – Explore the Wonders of the Night Sky.   I always wanted to have a book to help me discover in more details the sky at night.

This book is essentially a complete introduction to observing and understanding the night sky.  It will take you from the basics of stargazing to the skills you need to become an accomplished amateur astronomer.   The guide explains and demystifies the night sky, teaching you to recognize and identify the constellations and comets.  You will find that there are numerous illustrated step-by-step instructions that explain how to set up and use binoculars and telescopes as well as how to take your own pictures of the night sky.  Also included in this book you will find a detailed atlas that shows the night sky month by month as it appears around the world. 

The table of contents is divided into seven sections:

1. Understanding the universe – universe, naked-eye sky, planets, what is a star?, observing stars, nebulae, star clusters, galaxies, dividing light.
2. Looking up – motion of the skies, sky as a sphere, navigating the night sky, and observing conditions.
3. Observing and Recording – preparing to observe, using binoculars, telescope optics, telescopes and mounts, buying and setting up, go-to telescopes, astroimaging.
4. Pathfinders – the constellations, mapping the constellations, sky maps,
5. Solar System – our view of the solar system, observing the planets, Mercury and Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, dwarf planets and asteroids, sun, moon, comets and meteors, atmospheric phenomena, other lights in the sky.
6. Star Charts – using the star charts, monthly star charts.
7. Reference and glossary

The pathfinders and star charts are very explicit and will help you as you explore the sky.    I wish that they would have put some of these in fluorescent so that you can easily use them when looking at the sky in the dark.   I guess you can always pack a flashlight too!

I find this book to be interesting for homeschoolers because you can use it to develop a new skill during the summer.   It is packed with information on how to start and how to identify the stars, planets and constellations.    It is definitively a must have for anyone who desire to because an amateur astronomer.

The second book I received to review from this is Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas which attracted my eye because they are cooked on the BBQ.   Chef Craig Priebe's culinary creativity comes to life through his innovative Italian dishes. Focusing on his award-winning pizzas and piadinas, he uses a variety of ingredient combinations to deliver delectable meals right into the home cook's kitchen.

In this book you will discover mouth-watering recipes for grilled pizza with meat, chicken, seafood, and vegetables comprise the first part of this book, followed by chapters on crispy grilled piadinas, fresh salads, and grilled desserts. A typical recipe of Priebe's calls for smoky, thin, and crispy crusts and vibrant combinations of toppings such as grilled figs, Gorgonzola, and proscuitto.   Doesn’t it sound delicious to you?     The book contains quick and easy instructions for 75 recipes, full-color photographs, step-by-step techniques, and party menus.  Whether you are a  beginner cook or a seasoned chef I think you will be inspired to fire up the grill and cook up some fabulous meal to your family and friends.

The Summer Boutique contains books for adults and children.  In the Adults section you will find book about beeds, smoking meat, photography, cooking, gardening and more.  In the Children section you will see books about bird watching, bugs, food, and much more.   There is something for everyone in the family, so click on the image below to head over to the DK Canada Summer Living Boutique.

Both books are available for purchase at your favorite bookstore, even on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

 

 

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for allowing me to promote these books. I was not monetarily compensated for this post . Please note that the post was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Cupcakes & Mini Cakes

Cupcakes & Mini Cakes – more than 100 recipes for little cakes & cake pops
Published at DK Canada

About the book

With over 100 recipes for little cakes and cake pops, this delicious cookbook is sure to satisfy. The perfect step by step guide to creating delights and indulgent creamy bites, tasty truffles and breakfast brownies, this book covers all the essential techniques - from simply making to decorating cakes for every occasion.

• Features over 200 full colour photographs
• Visual recipe choosers group cakes by themes for easy inspiration

My Thoughts

I recently received this fun cookbook from DK Canada.   Turn out that it became really handy when two of my kids had to do something for their leaders.  They decided to work together and make cupcakes for them.   They picked a fun little recipe for their sweet tooth.  

This cookbook is easy to use and contains pictures to allow you to visualize the end result of a recipe.   The table of contents can quickly bring you to the recipe chooser, the techniques, the cupcakes and muffins recipes, the mini cakes and cake pops recipes, the mini bakes and bars recipes and finally the patisserie and tarts recipes.  Each recipe is clearly detailed with the ingredients and the steps to execute it.

So as I mentioned, my sons had to bless their Awana leaders in a special way.  The year is almost finished and the volunteers are helping the kids to work hard on their books.    Both my boys have done amazing this year each winning at the Awana Quizzing.  Jérémy and his team won the first place for their book while Dominic and his team won second place.

So to thank their leaders, they decided to make cupcakes.   The recipe that they picked is the Cherry and Coconut Cupcakes.   Here`s the recipe.

Ingredients:

4 oz Maraschino cherries
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup superfine sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup shredded coconut, plus extra for springkling
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
a few drops of pink food coloring (optional)

For the icing:
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar. sifted
4 tsp milk
a few drops of pink food coloring
scant shredded coconut
12 Maraschino cherries.

How to make:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line the pan with 12 baking cups.  Wash, dry, and quarter the cherries.
2. Place the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, coconut, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl and beat well with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add the quartered cherries.  Add a few drops of pink food coloring and beat briefly again.
3. Spoon the mixture into the baking cups and bake for about 15 minutes or until well risen, golden, and the centers spring back when lightly pressed.   Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
4. For the icing, beat the butter in a bowl.  Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar and milk until soft and fluffy.  Beat in a few drops of pink food coloring.  Pipe or spoon the icing on top of the cupcakes and top each with a sprinkling of shredded coconut and a Maraschino cherry.

This morning, after having done part of the homeschool assignments, they started on the cupcakes. 

Jérémy putting ingredients in the mixer.

We added the cherries at some point.

Whatcha doing Dominic?

Ready to be bake – I love the color of these cupcakes…. wish I could have one because I LOVE Maraschino cherries!

All baked and smelling yumy!

Decorating time…

And here’s the final result – a delicious cupcake that unfortunately mom can’t even taste.   I’m sure their Awana leaders will enjoy them!

To be honest, they have done everything themselves.  They followed the recipe and knew what to do at each step.   It was very easy to let them do this while I was helping their younger sister with her reading.   I am impressed on how easy it was for them to follow the recipe and that they didn’t have to ask for help at any point in time.

Tonight, they are bringing their cupcakes…..   as for me I am hoping that they will redo the recipe in a near future.  Maybe I should go get some Maraschino cherries to replenish our cupboards because they finished the container that we had.   

Cupcakes & Mini Cakes is available for purchase at your favorite bookstore, even amazon.ca and amazon.com.

  

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me the above mentioned book for review purposes . I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Yan-Kit’s Classic Chinese Cookbook

Yan-Kit’s Classic Chinese Cookbook
By Yan-Kit So
Published at DK Canada

About the cookbook

Learn to cook traditional Chinese food with this extensive collection of authentic Chinese recipes from Chinese cookery expert Yan-kit So. Dim-sum, dumplings, Cantonese food — you name it — this classic book has every recipe and cooking method you need to prepare delicious, authentic Chinese food.

With thirty years as a favorite in home kitchens everywhere, Yan-Kit's Classic Chinese Cookbook is a staple for cooking traditional Chinese food. Now this bestselling cookbook is reborn with wonderful photography that makes cooking Chinese food recipes understandable and simple. Even inexperienced cooks can find easy recipes in this complete collection, and more experienced chefs will find plenty to challenge and delight them as well.

Step-by-step instructions, tips and techniques, and complete menu ideas make Yan-Kit's Classic Chinese Cookbook inviting for home cooks of all skill levels: Find a new favorite dim-sum recipe, learn a great technique for dumplings, or polish your proficiency in the art of delicious Cantonese food. Yan-Kit's proficiency and expertise in cooking authentic Chinese food makes her the ideal chef to begin a journey into cooking Chinese food, and a trusted ally in guiding you in more expert Chinese dishes.

My Thoughts

The past three weeks, we have studied China with other families at our Homeschool Coop.   We had fun activities to learn more about the country and what makes it so different than Canada.

The older kids had a project that lasted three weeks – making a salt dough map of the country of China.

The finalized maps looked like this.

 

Meanwhile, the younger kids were doing a variety of activities. They made their Ming Plates.

 

They learned to write in Chinese.

They had fun to do a giant panda craft after learning about the animal.

And they worked all together in building the Great Wall of China.

Dominic helped with the fried rice and meal lesson.

The kids learned to eat with chopsticks.

And we performed a Dragon Dance.

These three weeks were amazing and the kids learned quite a bit about China.

To conclude our tour of China, we had decided to do a potluck – each families had to bring a Chinese meal to share.   This cookbook arrived at just the right time and I immediately explored it to determine which meal I would bring.  The table of contents is pretty much self-explaining and will provide quick access the the following sections: Ingredients, Equipment, Techniques, Recipes divided in specific groups like hors d’oeuvres, soups and fire pots, fish and seafood, poultry and eggs, meat, vegetables, rice/noodles/dumplings, and desserts as well as Regional Menus which includes regional Chinese cooking, Northern or Peking menu recipes, Eastern or Shanghai menu recipes, Western or Szechwan menu recipes, Southern or Cantonese menu recipes, as well as a mixed regional menu recipes. 

The book contains plenty of images and step-by-steps instructions which will help you do some of the recipes in the book.

I have decided to do the Sweet and Sour Pork recipe found at page 130.  This recipe serves 4 to 6 people if you include 2 or 3 other dishes.   Due to the fact that we were numerous at the coop, I doubled the recipe in hopes that we would have enough for everyone.  However, I will admit that I took whole-wheat flour instead of the potato flour, I forgot the egg, and I didn’t have any Worcestershire sauce….  Also, I have not deep-fried the pork due to time constraint.

Ingredients:

1 LB lean pork belly, skinned and trimmed of excess of fat
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon thin soy sauce
1/2 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons cornstarch
peanut or corn oil for deep-frying
2 1/2 tablespoons peanut or corn oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 onion, skinned and roughly chopped
1 green pepper, halved, seeded, and diced
4 ounces canned pineapple chunks, drained, juice reserved

For the sauce
2 teaspoons potato flour
4 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons pineapple juice
3 tablespoons rice or wine vinegar
4 to 4 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons thin soy sauce
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1) Cut the pork into pieces about 1 by 1 1/4 by 3/4 inches.  Put into a bowl.
2) Add the salt and soy sauce and let marinate for 30 to 60 minutes.  Stir in the egg to coat thoroughly.
3) Dredge the pork, piece by piece, with the cornstarch, making sure it is evenly coated.  It is not necessary to use up all the cornstarch.
4) Half fill a wok or deep fryer with oil, heat to a temperature of 350F or until a cube of stale bread browns in 60 seconds.   Add the pork and deep-fry for about 1 minute in 1 or 2 batches; separate the pieces with a pair of chopsticks or a wooden spoon if they stick together.  Drain on paper towels.  This step can be done ahead of time.
5) Prepare the sauce.  In a bowl, dissolve the potato flour in the water and pineapple juice.   Add the vinegar, sugar, salt, soy sauce, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce, and stir to blend. (This can be made in advance.)
6) Heat a frying pan or sauce pan (unless you have another wok) until hot.  Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil and swirl it around.   Add the garlic and onion, stir a few times and then add the green pepper.  Stir-fry for about 2 minutes over medium heat and season with salt, if desired.   Add the pineapple chunks.  Pour in the well-stirred sauce and bring to a boil slowly, stirring constantly.
7) Reheat the oil for deep-frying to a higher temperature, 375F, or until a cube of stale bread browns in 50 seconds.  Add the pork and again deep-fry in one batch for about 2 or 3 minutes, to ensure that the outside is crisp and golden without the pork inside getting dry.  Drain on paper towels and transfer to a warm serving plate.  Reheat the sweet and sour sauce and stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil.  This prevents the sauce from being gluey.  Pour the sweet and sour sauce over the pork.  Serve immediately.

Note:  When reheated, sweet and sour pork will be soggy but it will still taste good.

The meal was delicious and we had a wide variety of plates to choose from.   Everyone made a huge effort to bring something Chinese and authentic.  

This recipe book is packed with wonderful recipes from China and I plan to try out other recipes in the weeks and months to come.  Having a Chinese grocery store near our home is helpful to find the ingredients that wouldn’t be at the normal grocery store for sure.  If you want to expand your repertoire of recipes for your family and friends, consider getting Yan-Kit’s Classic Chinese Cookbook.  

Yan-Kit’s Classic Chinese Cookbook is available at your favourite bookstore, even amazon.ca and amazon.com.

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me the above mentioned book for review purposes . I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.