Cooking Hints and Tips   

    Fats   

                                           

Butter, margarine, and olive oil are not good choices for deep frying or cooking that involves high heat because of their low smoking points. All vegetable oils contain about the same amount of calories and fat. None of them contain any cholesterol. If you buy olive oil in large cans because you cook with it a lot, put it in clean recycled plastic ketchup squeeze container so you can squeeze out as much oil as you need without having to deal with a clumsy can on your counter. Clarified butter differs from regular butter because it may be cooked at a higher temperature without burning. Clarified butter does not burn easily because the milk solids have been removed from it, and those are the parts that easily burn. To make clarified butter, slowly melt unsalted butter over low heat without stirring. When the butter has separated into three layers, turn off the heat and allow to cool. Skim the foamy top layer off and discard. Remove the clarified butter (middle of the three layers) off, being careful not to touch the bottom layer. Store clarified butter in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks. Clarified butter: Also known as "drawn" butter, clarified butter is unsalted butter that has been slowly melted, thereby evaporating most of the water and separating the milk solids (which sink to the bottom of the pan) from the golden liquid on the surface. After any foam is skimmed off the top, the clear (clarified) butter is poured or skimmed off the milky residue and used in cooking. When pan frying foods, be sure to use a heavy pan that distributes heat evenly. Make certain not to use butter alone for cooking; it burns easily. And always start with a warm pan, with the butter or oil heated before food is added. If you're trying to cut down on fat in your cooking, the secret is to get maximum mileage out of the fat you do use. You can sprinkle a small amount of high-fat ingredients on top of a dish for the greatest impact. The aroma will dominate and fool you into thinking there is more of the ingredient than there really is. Unsure whether to reach for regular or extra-virgin olive oil (which is a bit more costly)? Regular olive oil is very mild and beset for frying and grilling. Extra-virgin, pressed from top-quality, barely ripe olives, has a more intense flavor and aroma; drizzle on salads or use for dipping bread, instances when its fruity, spicy or even peppery qualities can be appreciated. As a rule, regular is usually paler than the deep yellows or greens of extra-virgin, but color is not considered a reliable way to gauge taste. Fats such as butter, margarine and oil have a lubricating effect on gluten's meshwork. In other words, adding fats will permit your dough to stretch more easily. Fats help improve flavor, tenderness and quality of bread. Butter is usually used in rich, sweet and festive breads. It is important to use shortening to grease your pans, instead of butter or oil which can cause the bread to stick to the pan or burn. Butter is a rich source of the essential fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and E, not easily found elsewhere in the diet in a simply assimilated form. Butter has a good supply of the X Factor, a catalyst that helps the body absorb minerals. Its short and medium-chain fatty acids are much less likely to cause fat storage than the long-chain acids in olive oil; they also have anti-microbial, anti-tumor, and immune system-supportive functions--especially 12carbon lauric acid, which isn't found in other animal fats and is the one saturated fat the body doesn't make itself. Butter also contains conjugated linoleic acid, which has anti-cancer properties. It also supplies lecithin, which aids in the proper metabolism of cholesterol and other fats. On top of all that, it has a lot of trace minerals.

                                       

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