All About Chocolate - Cooking Tips


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All About Chocolate - Cooking Tips

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Posted by ADMIN at 09/26/2007 06:33 | 0 comments

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Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: All About Oils
Categories: Food, Information
Yield: 1 Servings

SEE BELOW

Canola Made from rape seeds. Canola oil has a bland flavor and is good for
cooking and salad dressings. It has approximately 6 percent less saturated
fat than other oils.

Corn Made from the germ of the corn kernel. Corn oil is almost tasteless
and is excellent for cooking because it can withstand high temperatures
without smoking. It is high in polyunsaturated fat and is used to make
margarine, salad dressings and mayonnaise.

Olive A monosaturated oil extracted from tree-ripened olives. Olive oils
range from light amber to green in color and bland to extremely strong in
flavor. Olive oil is graded according to its degree of acidity and the
process used to extract the oil. Oil labeled "virgin" is cold pressed, a
process using no heat or chemicals and contains low levels of acidity. Oil
labeled "pure" uses heat and chemicals to process olive residue from
subsequent pressings.

Peanut Made from pressed, steam-cooked peanuts. Peanut oil has a bland
flavor and is good for cooking because it doesn't absorb or transfer
flavors. Its smoking point is slightly lower than corn or safflower oil.
Contains 17 percent saturated fat.

Safflower A clear, almost flavorless oil made from the seeds of safflowers.
Safflower oil is a favorite for salads because it doesn't solidify when
chilled. It has more polyunsaturated fat that other oils but lacks vitamin
E.

Sesame Made from pressed sesame seeds. Sesame oil comes in two varieties:
light (made with untoasted sesames) and dark (made with toasted sesames).
Light sesame oil has a nutty flavor and is especially good for frying. Dark
sesame oil (Asian) has a stronger flavor and should only be used in small
quantities for flavoring foods not cooking. Both varieties are high in
polyunsaturated fat.

Sunflower Made from sunflower seeds. Sunflower oil is pale yellow and has a
bland flavor. It is a good all-purpose oil low in saturated fat and high in
polyunsaturated fat.

Ingredients:

MELTING CHOCOLATE

Chocolate scorches easily, so always melt it over hot - not boiling -
water. It is best to use a double boiler, but you can improvise by using a
c or bowl in a small saucepan over very gentle heat. The water must be
kept below simmering to prevent steam from curling up and hitting the
chocolate. If steam gets into the melted chocolate it will immediately
thicken the mixture to a stiff mass. If this does happen, however, you can
rescue the chocolate by softening it again. To do this, add 1-2 tb of
vegetable shortening (never use butter as it contains moisture which will
cause the chocolate stiffen even more!) to the chocolate and stir
vigorously. You can also melt chocolate directly over very low heat in a
heavy gauge saucepan, but you must watch the mixture carefully.

HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CURLS

Use a vegetable peeler with a long narrow blade and a chunk or bar of
chocolate. Warm chocolate and blade slightly. Be sure your peeler is
absolutely dry. Draw the peeler along the smooth surface of the chocolate.

HOW TO GRATE CHOCOLATE

Be sure that the block of chocolate is cool and firm. Grate on hand
grater, cleaning the grater often so that the chocolate doesn't clog the
surface of the blade. You cn use a blender, but be sure to cut the
chocolate into sm pieces first.

HOW TO STORE CHOCOLATE

Chocolate should be stored in a cool, dry place at a temperature of about
60F. If the chocolate becomes too warm, the cocoa butter rises to the
surface and forms a dusty gray film known as "bloom." This "bloom" is not
harmful and, once the chocolate is melted, it returns to its natural rich
brown color. If you do store chocolate in the refrigerator or freezer,
take in out and let it stand until it returns to room temperature before
you use it in a recipe. Chocolate is very sensitive to sudden changes of
temperature and you will not get the best results if you do not treat it
with respect.

Origin: Farm Journal's Choice Chocolate Recipes Posted in COOKING by:
Sharon Stevens 8/10/93

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

Serves:

1 Servings 		 
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