Month: October 2022

Home › Cooking Chicken › Pan Fried ChickenIf you’re looking for a simple, delicious meal, you can’t go wrong with pan fried chicken.

Pan frying is a basic cooking technique, but it’s super versatile. It’s the starting point for tasty dishes like chicken marsala or hundreds of other dishes that don’t really have a name.

And with some roasted potatoes and delicious vegetables on the side, it just makes a great meal.

The thing about pan fried chicken is that it’s easy to get it wrong, but it’s even easier to get right. If you know how to do it – what sounds to listen for, what to look for – then suddenly it becomes one of the easiest and most delicious meals in the world.

So in this article, I’ll go over everything you need to know to make perfect pan fried chicken.

First, I’ll talk about how to prepare the chicken to get it ready for pan frying. Then, I’ll talk about how to prepare the pan or skillet you’ll be using. Next, I’ll go over how to actually pan fry chicken. Finally, I’ll talk about the best part of pan frying chicken – making a great pan sauce to go with it.

That’s just 4 easy steps!

If you’re actually looking for southern fried or deep-fried chicken, check out our articles on making fried chicken. It’s quite a bit different from pan fried chicken!

Here we go!

Step 1: Preparing The Chicken

No matter what dish you’re trying to make, pan fried chicken is essentially a piece of chicken cooked in a hot, oiled pan. But if that was all there was to it, there wouldn’t be any need for a whole page about it, right?

The first thing that sets apart different meals made by pan frying chicken is how you prepare the chicken. In this section, I’ll talk about preparing the chicken pieces, seasoning, and breading.

Preparing The Chicken Pieces

When you’re making pan fried chicken, there are a few things you need to do to get your chicken just right.

• Pick the right cut. I feel that skinless, boneless pieces are the best cuts for pan frying. Breast or thighs or whatever you like, but boneless just works best.
  • A boneless piece isn’t as rigid as a bone-in piece, so it’ll flatten better on the pan. That means the whole surface will cook nice and evenly, and develop an even golden crust.
  • When you’re making pan fried chicken, it’s best that each piece be uniformly thick, for even cooking. Using boneless chicken lets you pound it flat if needed.
• Get the right thickness. The chicken pieces should be uniformly thick, and they shouldn’t be much thicker than an inch and a half.
  • A uniform piece will cook a lot more evenly, so that every bite is juicy and perfect.
  • When you pan fry, the chicken directly touches the hot pan, so the outside of the chicken gets hot much faster than the inside. If your piece is too thick, the outside might burn before the inside is cooked.
  • If you need, you can pound the chicken to get it the right thickness. Just use a clean, flat-bottomed mallet, place the chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap, and pound the chicken until it’s uniformly thick.
• Pat the chicken dry. Remember, one of the great parts about pan fried chicken is the tasty, golden crust. But you get that crust from a nice, dry heat. Any moisture will make it a lot harder.

Seasoning

• You can sprinkle the chicken with just about any herb/spice combination you can think of.
  • Thyme and sage, curry powder, garlic and onion powder, tarragon, salt and pepper… the possibilities are endless. Whichever spices you pick will turn the meal into something unique.
• You can also rub in the spice mixture.
  • Rub it into the meat with your hand, and let it sit for an hour or so in the fridge. The flavors will penetrate the chicken and you’ll get a much more intensely-flavored meal
• Don’t be afraid to experiment. Some herb combinations won’t work, but chicken goes with so many different flavors that it’s hard to miss, especially if you’re choosing spices that you like.

Breading

Notes

• If you’re wondering about marinating your chicken, I’d say that for pan fried chicken, it’s better not to.
  • If your chicken is wet from a marinade, it’ll add moisture to the pan, making it harder to get a nice golden crust.
  • A marinade also makes it harder to get a good fond, which means you won’t have as good a base for your pan sauce, if you’re planning on making one.
  • If neither of those things matter with you, then you can absolutely go ahead and marinate your chicken!

Step 2: Preparing The Pan

Preparing the pan is a really important step when you’re making pan fried chicken. It’s what makes the difference between a burnt piece of chicken, and a piece of chicken that’s perfectly cooked, with a beautiful, flavorful golden crust.

Preparing the pan properly is actually the big secret to perfect pan fried chicken!

So how do you do it? Let’s find out.

Picking A Pan

Well, first, let’s go over the different types of pans you can use for pan fried chicken.

• A non-stick pan might feel like the safest choice, but it’s not necessarily the best choice.
  • Even if you use a pan that’s not non-stick, if you prepare your pan properly, you won’t have any issues with sticking.
  • Because the pan is non-stick, it won’t create as nice a fond – the brown bits at the bottom of the pan that make a pan sauce so awesome.
• A cast-iron pan is a great choice.
  • Cast-iron retains heat really well, so that when you place your chicken in the pan, the pan won’t cool down.
  • On the other hand, because it retains heat so well, it can make it difficult to adjust the heat while you’re cooking.
• Stainless steel pans are great for pan fried chicken, too.
  • Stainless steel doesn’t retain heat as well as cast-iron. That means that you’ll lose a bit of heat when adding the chicken, but it’ll also be easier to adjust the temperature when you’re cooking the chicken.

You can actually use any type of pan to make pan fried chicken… but each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Preparing The Pan

Alright, now that we know a bit more about different types of pans, let’s go over how to prepare the pan for pan fried chicken.

1. Place a bit of oil in your pan. It should be just enough to thinly coat the bottom when the pan is hot, about a tablespoon or two.
   • If you have a pan that can be heated without oil, you can always heat the pan first and add the oil when it’s hot enough.
   • Rouxbe has a great video about how doing this with a stainless steel pan can help you get just the right temperature.
2. Heat the oil over medium to medium high heat.
   
   • It’s important to heat the pan gently. Heating the pan over high heat would be too rough, even if you lower the heat afterward.
   • The oil is hot enough when it flows easily over the surface of the pan if you swirl it around. It should also have a streaky, shimmery sheen to it when you tilt the pan.
   • Don’t let the oil burn. If you do, you’ll have to clean the pan and start over. Burnt oil doesn’t taste particularly good, but it also won’t cook the chicken properly.

So why is it so important to get the heat just right for pan fried chicken? Well, there are a few reasons.

• If the pan isn’t hot enough, the chicken will stick when you put it in the pan. And when it comes time to flip it, it’ll tear.
• If the pan is too hot, well, the chicken will burn. And that’s just never good.
• Having just the right temperature means that the chicken won’t stick, and will get a perfectly golden crust – adding a ton of flavor to your meal.

Notes

• When you add the oil to your pan, there shouldn’t be any water or moisture whatsoever in your pan. Moisture will make the oil spatter, which isn’t only messy, but it could burn you.

Step 3: Cooking The Chicken

Alright, we’ve gone over how to prepare the chicken, and how to prepare the pan and heat it properly. Now comes the fun part – cooking the chicken!

The goal is to get a golden crust on the outside of the chicken, and a juicy inside. The golden color isn’t just for looks – it adds an incredible flavor to the chicken.

Like I mentioned, preparing the pan is the most important step, the big secret to making perfect pan fried chicken. But there are still a few things to look out for when you add the chicken to the pan.

So here’s how you do it:

1. Place the chicken in the pan. You should lower each piece in gently, away from you. That is, the first part of the chicken to touch the pan is the part closest to you, they lay it down flat away from you.
   • This way, if there’s any moisture on the chicken, the chicken makes a little shield between you and the spatter!
2. Listen to the sizzle when you place the chicken in the pan. The faster the sizzle, the hotter your pan is. Adjust the temperature if you need to.
   • The thinner your chicken pieces, the faster a sizzle you want. You want to be able to cook the outside quickly without drying out the inside.
   • If you have a thick piece, go a for a bit of a slower sizzle. It’ll give the inside time to cook through while the outside browns.
   • If you hear a lot of popping sounds, the pan is too hot, and you should lower the heat a bit.
   
3. Cook the chicken on one side until it has a nice golden crust, then flip it over.
   • Sometimes the chicken will stick even if you heated it just right. But once the crust forms, it’ll lift off the pan, making it easy to flip – so don’t try to shift it around the pan until it unsticks by itself!
4. Cook the chicken on the other side until it’s nice and golden brown.
5. Check if the chicken is done. Its internal temperature should be about 165F to 170F. The inside shouldn’t be pink anymore – but the best way to tell is with a meat thermometer.
6. If it’s not done yet, continue cooking the chicken at a medium sizzle on the same side until it’s done.
   • You don’t want the heat to be too high, or the outside might burn before the inside is done.
   • Don’t flip the chicken too often. The heat needs to move from the bottom of the pan up to cook the center of the chicken. If you flip it around, the process has to start over.
7. Set the meat aside and cover it to keep it warm. The meat should rest for 5-10 minutes before you serve it.

And that’s how to cook the chicken. It’s not at all hard, but making pan fried chicken does take a bit of practice and attention.

Step 4: Making A Pan Sauce

Alright, so far, we’ve prepared the chicken, heated the pan properly, and cooked the chicken so that it has a nice, flavorful golden crust.

So what’s left?

Well, what’s left in the pan is the fond, extremely flavorful brown bits stuck to the bottom. And the fond is the basis for a delicious pan sauce.

Nothing could be easier to make, and it’s just about the best part about pan fried chicken!

What You’ll Need

Most pan sauces are made up of the same basic elements, but depending on the specific ingredients you choose, the possibilities are endless. Here’s what makes up a great pan sauce:

• The fond is a super concentrated burst of flavor for your pan sauce. It adds the natural flavors of the chicken to your pan sauce, enhanced through caramelization.
  • The fond should be golden or brown, never burnt. If it’s burnt, it won’t add a nice flavor to the sauce, and you shouldn’t use it.
• You need to have some liquid in your sauce. Adding cold liquid to the hot pan will help the fond lift off the pan and dissolve into the sauce, adding tons of flavor. This is called deglazing the pan.
  • Try chicken stock, wine, juice, vinegar or even just plain water, or any combination of those. Each will add its own flavor and feel to the sauce.
  • The most acidic liquids should be added first, to give the acid some time to boil off. You’ll still have the depth of flavor, but you’ll get a more subtle taste.
  • If you’re adding wine, take the pan off the burner to avoid creating any fireballs. And don’t pour straight from the bottle – if the wine did catch fire, the bottle could explode.
  • You can add as much liquid as you think you need for your sauce. Depending how many people you’re serving, this’ll generally be anywhere from 1 to 3 cups.
• Some aromatics can really add a nice depth of flavor to your sauce. It isn’t necessary, but it can be really delicious.
  • Try onions, garlic, shallots, green onions, or even mushrooms.
  • The quantities aren’t really important. Whatever you like is what’s best! If you like lots of mushrooms, add lots! If you’re a garlic fanatic like me, go nuts and put 3 or 4 big cloves.
• If you’re in the mood for a rich, creamy sauce, you can add a little bit of cream to the sauce.
• A bit of butter, swirled in at the end, can add a lot of depth to the flavor and texture of your sauce.
  • If you’re using chicken stock, it’ll give the sauce a great mouth feel all on its own, so that you don’t really need the butter. It’s healthier, and I even prefer it that way.
• Sometimes the sauce just won’t want to thicken on its own, and you may need a little bit of flour to help it out.
  • A little flour goes a long way. If you have a very liquid sauce, you would still only need to add a teaspoon or two per cup of liquid. The thicker your sauce, the less you need to add.

How To Make A Pan Sauce

Alright, now that we know what we need, we can see how it all goes together to make an outstanding pan sauce to go with your pan fried chicken.

1. Chop the aromatics as finely or as coarsely as you want them in your sauce.
2. Heat a teaspoon of two of oil in the pan you cooked the chicken in over medium heat. Saute the vegetables a few minutes, until they soften and just start to brown.
3. Bring the heat to high, and quickly add your liquids to the pan to deglaze it. Scrape up all the brown bits with a spatula or wooden spoon.
   • Add the most acidic liquid first, to give the acids time to break down and boil off.
   • If you’re adding wine or some other alcohol, be careful to take the pan off the heat, to avoid it catching fire.
4. Turn the heat down and let the sauce simmer until it’s reduced by about half. It should thicken a bit as it reduces.
   • A great sauce will be a bit thick – if you drag a spoon across the pan, you should have a few seconds to see the bottom of the pan before the sauce fills in the gap.
   • Of course, if you prefer a thicker or a thinner sauce, then let it reduce until you think it’s just right for you. The only rule to follow is what you like best!
5. Sometimes, it seems that no matter what you do, the sauce doesn’t thicken enough. If that’s the case, you can add a bit of flour to the mix.
   • Try mixing a teaspoon or two of flour in a few tablespoons of cold water. Mix it really well until it’s smooth and liquid, then whisk it into the sauce.
   • Once the flour is in there, let the sauce simmer until it’s as thick as you like it, stirring constantly. The sauce will thicken as it simmers.
   • You can always add more flour if you need to, but always mix it with a cold liquid. Adding it directly to the sauce creates lumps.
6. Take the pan off the heat.
7. If you’re adding cream, swirl in a bit into the sauce.
   • Again, there’s no set amount. Just pour a little bit in the sauce, then stir, and taste. If you want more, add more.
8. If you’re adding butter, add in a tablespoon or two and swirl it in until it’s melted and the sauce is smooth.

And that’s all there is to it! Just spoon a bit of sauce on the chicken, and you’re ready to serve.

And that’s how you make an amazing pan fried chicken, with a delicious homemade pan sauce to go with it.

Home › Cooking Chicken › Oven Fried ChickenOven fried chicken is a fantastic alternative to fried chicken. By “frying” it in the oven (oven fried chicken is actually baked!), you get all the great crisp and crunch of fried chicken, without the extra fat from frying it in oil. And, it’s even easier to make!

This is one of my favorite meals. I love breading the chicken — I find it fun! I love the results. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. Yum! And as a bonus, while the chicken is baking, you can make the rest of the meal, clean up, or just relax and anticipate a great meal.

In this article, I’ll explain everything about how to cook oven fried chicken: selecting the right cuts of chicken, breading the chicken, and how to cook it.

Here we go!

 

Step 1: Selecting your chicken

Pick your cut

This part is easy. Pretty much any cut of chicken can be used for oven frying. Wings, thighs, drumsticks, breasts… they all turn out delicious! The only thing I’d really recommend is to cut up your chicken into the smallest units:

• Instead of using a whole leg, cut it up into the drumstick and thigh.
• If you’re going to oven fry some wings, split them into the tip, mid section and drumette.
• Click here for some good pictures of all the cuts.

Boneless or Bone-in?

Again, pretty much anything goes here. Personally, for thighs and breasts I prefer boneless because it’s less of a hassle to eat. Drumsticks are always fun to eat with your hands though.

It all comes down to what you like best!

Remember though, the cooking time can increase if you leave the bone in.

Skin or no skin

You can pick either for oven fried chicken. Each cut has its own benefits:

With skin

• Leaving the skin on provides a base for the coating, and helps it stick better.
• The skin adds extra crispiness and flavor to the chicken.
• The skin helps prevent the chicken from drying out.

Skinless

• Removing the skin reduces the amount of fat you end up eating.

Pick your size

Picking the right size pieces can be a little bit tricky.

The chicken is going to cook at a relatively high heat, so you want to make sure your pieces aren’t too small, or they’ll be dry and tough before the breading is crispy. On the other hand, if your pieces are too big, the coating might burn before they’re cooked.

Generally, pieces that come from a 3-5 lb chicken are just about the right size.

If you’re using boneless chicken breasts or thighs, you don’t need to worry about this so much. If your pieces look a bit thick, just pound them down to 1/4-1/2 an inch or so.

Step 2: Coating your chicken

The next step to making oven fried chicken is breading the chicken. This is my favorite part! It’s organized, but just messy enough to be fun.

If you’re not sure how to bread chicken, check out our chicken breading guide. It’s a two part guide, so be sure to read both Part I and Part II.

The guide describes three methods for making breaded chicken: the 1-2-3 Method, the 1-2 Method, and the 1-Method. For oven fried chicken, I recommend either the 1-2-3-Method or the 1-2 Method — they’re both great! The 1-Method isn’t as good for oven fried chicken. Here’s why:

• Oven frying chicken isn’t the same as frying it. Frying in oil may not be as healthy, but it does make your chicken extra crispy. The 1-2-3 and 1-2 Methods give your chicken a thicker, crunchier breading, which helps compensate for the lack of pan frying.
• The 1-Method recommends using a coating of flour. Flour is great for pan frying or deep frying, because it burns at a much higher temperature than the other coatings. In the oven, though, it takes much longer to crisp. You end up having to cook your chicken for 30 to 45 minutes longer!
• With the 1-Method, your chicken has a much thinner coating and has no liquid base to protect it, so it can end up a bit on the dry side.

Step 3: Cooking your chicken

Now for the last step. We need to know how to cook the chicken! At this point, you’ll be really happy that you decided to oven fry your chicken rather than pan fry it. It’s so easy to cook!

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Lightly grease a baking dish. Arrange your breaded chicken pieces in the dish. The dish should be large enough to hold all your chicken pieces without overcrowding them. If they’re too crowded, they won’t brown evenly.
3. If your breading is not flour, bake the breaded chicken in the prepared oven for 50 minutes, turning over the chicken after 25 minutes.
   If your breading is flour, bake the chicken in the prepared oven for 50 minutes, then turn over and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
4. The chicken is done when it reaches a minimum internal temperature of 165F (according to the USDA safety facts) and stays at that temperature for at least 10 seconds.

Tips

• The breading on the chicken should be nice and browned by the time you remove it from the oven. If it hasn’t browned yet, feel free to leave it in an extra 10 minutes or so.
• Each oven is different. Some just seem to heat more than others, even at the same setting. Try setting your oven to 400F first, but if you find that it burns the breading, turn it down to 375F. Or, if the breading just isn’t getting crispy, try setting your oven to 425F.
• If you left the skin or bone in your chicken pieces, they might take a bit longer to cook. Just watch the internal temperature and you’ll be fine. Remember, 165F for 10 seconds.

Step 4: Enjoy!

Yup, that’s it! You’re now ready to sit down and eat some delicious oven fried chicken. Yum!

It really is easy to make. The whole process of breading the chicken can take less than 10 minutes when you’re used to it. The only hard part after that is waiting for the chicken to cook! Luckily, that baking time is a great opportunity to prepare the rest of the meal (mashed potatoes anyone?) and clean up any mess you might have made while breading.

Bon appetit!

Home › Culinary Schools › New England Culinary Institute

If you’re looking for a great culinary arts institute, the New England Culinary Institute is one of the best options out there. They’ve got a great reputation, so that when you earn your degree, you’ll have an easier time getting work. They’ve also got a great internship program, giving you some valuable work experience before you even graduate.

But what exactly does the New England Culinary Institute have to offer? And, most importantly when you’re picking a culinary arts institute, what sets it apart from the rest?

In this article, I’ll tell you all about this culinary arts institute. First, I’ll briefly go over the school’s history and philosophy. Then, I’ll talk about the things that make it stand out from other culinary arts schools. Next, I’ll go over the different available programs. And finally, I’ll talk about tuition and fees.

If your dream is to become a professional chef, you should know as much as you can about the different culinary arts schools. So read on!

A Bit About the New England Culinary Institute

The New England Culinary Institute (NECI), located in Montpelier, Vermont, was established in 1980. It started out small, with its first graduating class consisting of just 7 students! But it’s grown a lot since then. Today, you’ll find about 500 student on campus – a good deal more than 7, but still small enough to have a feeling of community.

One of the most important things about NECI is their guiding principle, “Learn by living it.” A lot of their curriculum is based on giving you on-hands, real-life experience. There are a lot of hands-on classes, and lots of internship opportunities. You learn by doing, you have a great student-to-teacher ratio, and you learn what it means to work in the culinary industry in the real world, so that when you graduate, you’re ready for it.

And although there’s no official ranking for culinary arts schools, NECI has a great reputation. Graduates are happy with what they learn and what they accomplish afterward, and the name NECI on your resume gives a certain prestige.

Special Features

All the top culinary arts institutes have certain features that make them special, different from the others. And depending on what type of personality you have, some schools will be better for you than others. It’s important to know which school offers what so that you can pick the best one for you.

So what sets the New England Culinary Institute apart?

• The small campus and student body gives the school a feeling of community and closeness that you just can’t get with thousands of students.
• They have a great student-to-teacher ratio. 10:1, that’s amazing. More teachers per students means that the teachers can focus more attention on you and really get to know you. They have more time to help you learn and understand the things that are giving you trouble.
• You get to work in real restaurants as part of your schooling. NECI owns several for-profit restaurants, including NECI on Main, La Brioche, The Chef’s Table, and a few others. And they’re the real deal. Working there gives you experience you just can’t get in a classroom.
• You get to learn about more than just cooking – you also get to learn about the whole process of getting ingredients from the farm to the kitchen. There are plenty of farms, farmer’s markets and local producers to help you understand how to get the best, freshest ingredients available.
• For some fields, internships are incredibly valuable. The culinary arts is one of those fields. It’s one thing to learn how to cook in a classroom, but it’s a whole other to actually do it in a restaurant with all the pressure that goes along with it. An internship can help you get prepared for that. NECI ‘s programs include two 700 hour internships, with many, many different restaurants to choose from all over the world.
• A culinary career doesn’t just mean cooking. You may also need to know about management, catering, purchasing, working the front of the restaurant as well as the back. The New England Culinary Institute offers courses for all of those subjects, to give you a well-rounded education.

All of this put together means you get a top notch culinary arts institute. It’s also pretty high pressure – the internships and hands-on training can get pretty intense. It’s kind of like learning to swim by being thrown into the water. Yes, the teachers are there to help and guide you, but you’ll be working hard right off the bat – they don’t ease you into it!

Programs Offered

Another thing to consider when you’re looking at different culinary institutes is whether they have a program that’s right for you. Most culinary arts schools have a general sort of program, but some also offer various specializations that may be even better suited to you!

The New England Culinary Institute offers the following programs:

• Bachelors Degree in Culinary Arts
• Associate of Occupational Studies in Culinary Arts degree
• Associate of Occupational Studies in Baking and Pastry Arts degree
• Bachelors Degree in Hospitality and Restaurant Management
• Associate of Occupational Studies in Hospitality and Restaurant Management degree
• Online Bachelors Degree in Hospitality and Restaurant Management
• Certificate in Professional Cooking
• Certificate in Professional Baking
• Certificate in Professional Pastry

There’s 3 basic types of programs: the Bachelors degree, the Associate degree, and the Certificate.

• The Bachelors degrees are the most in-depth. They take more time but leave you prepared for some higher positions in the industry.
• Associate degrees are a little less in-depth, but also have internships and hands-on training. They give you lots of career choices, although some of the higher position might be a little more difficult.
• The Certificates, on the other hand, are short, intensive programs. Their goal is to help you improve your current culinary career and better your existing skills, or to allow you to test if a culinary career is right for you, before you go for a 4 year degree.

The program that’s right for you depends on what exactly your career goals are, and how much time you have available for your culinary arts degree. NECI offers a general culinary arts degree, but you can also specialize in delicious desserts: baking and pastry!

Tuition and Fees

The tuition for the New England Culinary Institute is probably on the higher end of the spectrum, at over $30,000 per year for certain Bachelors and Associate degree. The Certificates are less expensive, closer to $10,000 for the Certificate.

It’s really not orders of magnitudes higher than other top schools. It is a little more expensive, but you do have the possibility of paid internships to offset some of the costs. And you get extremely valuable hands-on experience, contacts in the culinary industry, and a degree that’ll open lots of doors for you. If you can afford it, it’s well worth the cost if your dream is to be a chef!

So that’s a little bit about the New England Culinary Institute. It has a lot to offer, and has lots of very happy graduates, including the Food Network’s Alton Brown. It’s well worth taking the time to figure out if it’s the right culinary arts institute for you.

Home › Cooking Vegetables › How To Microwave Spaghetti SquashI always find it kind of surprising that you can microwave spaghetti squash and still get the cool spaghetti strands. You can cook lots of different foods in the microwave, but it tends to give a different texture than roasting, boiling or steaming does. And the texture of a spaghetti squash is really important.

But you absolutely can microwave spaghetti squash. So if your oven isn’t available or you just prefer the microwave, then it’s a perfectly good way to do it. And it’s just a little bit faster than baking, too.

It’s all actually really easy, and there’s no difficult trick to getting the strands. And you’ll be in for a delicious treat, kind of like pasta but not quite. Mild enough to taste great with all kinds of sauce, but much lighter than pasta so you’ll feel better after eating it.

In this article, I’ll go over how to microwave spaghetti squash. I’ll talk about how to prepare the squash, how to microwave it, and how to get the strands out.

Here we go!

 

Preparing the Squash

Before you microwave spaghetti squash, you need to prepare the squash, get it nice and ready for cooking. How you do it is a bit more important for microwaving than it is for baking!

Wash the Squash

First things first. Washing the squash helps remove any bacteria or dirtoff the surface of the squash. Not that you’ll be eating the rind, but when you start cutting it and handling it, you can transfer some stuff from the surface to the fleshy center.

To wash it, just scrub it under lukewarm water. Be sure to dry it carefully afterwards, so that it’s not slippery. A slippery squash can cause some nasty accidents when you try to cut into it!

Cut the Squash or Leave It Whole?

Once your spaghetti squash is nice and clean, you have two options: cut it in half or leave it whole. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages when you microwave spaghetti squash.

• Cutting a spaghetti squash in half is hard work. An uncooked squash is hard – the flesh is hard, and the rind is even harder. You’ll need a big sharp knife, a steady hand, and a good deal of effort. Once it’s cooked, it’s a lot easier to cut, which is why some people prefer to cook it whole.
• Most microwaves will fit a whole squash, but not all will fit two squash halves. If you have a big squash and a small microwave, you might not be able to place the halves side by side and cook them together. It just means you’ll have to cook them in two batches – not a huge deal, but it does take a bit more time and teensy bit effort.
• Microwaving spaghetti squash whole can have unfortunate consequences. That is, the squash might explode. If you’re lucky, the mess will be contained to the microwave and you might even get a few usable chunks from the mess. If you’re not lucky, the door to the microwave will fly open and you’ll have spaghetti squash all over the kitchen. Not so fun!
• Microwaving a whole squash takes a bit longer. If you’re short on time, you may just want to go ahead and cut the squash in half. You’ll save a few minutes cooking time.
• Cutting a hot squash can be tricky, too. It’s not as hard as cutting a raw squash, but if you’re not careful, you can burn yourself. And then you have to scoop out piping hot seeds! Again, it’s not as hard as when it’s raw, but you still need to be careful.

Whether you cut it or leave it whole is up to you. Personally, I think cutting it in half is the way to go. It’s a bit annoying, but I’d rather cut 50 squashes than have a single one explode!

It’s worth noting though, that whether or not the squash will explode seems to depend a lot on your microwave and how powerful it is – the higher the power, the more chance you have of getting squash wallpaper. So if you have a really powerful microwave, cut the squash in half – or cook it on medium or medium high power.

Option 1: Cut the Squash

If you decide to cut the squash before cooking it, you’re in for a little bit of work. But don’t worry, every bit of time you put in now is time you save later – best to get the hard stuff over with!

You can cut the squash lengthwise or crosswise. Cutting it crosswise will give you longer strands, because the strands wrap around the squash instead of going end to end. You’ll also have a better chance of fitting both halves in the microwave. I tend to like the shorter strands because they’re easier to eat, but longer strands do look a bit more elegant, like real spaghetti.

To cut the spaghetti squash, use a big, sharp knife. Try to keep the squash as steady as possible. You can try to go straight through the squash. I’m not all that strong, though, so I just end up cutting halfway through, then turning it around and cutting through the other half.

Once you’ve cut the squash, scoop out the seeds. If they’re stubborn and don’t want to come out, just scrape the flesh crosswise with a spoon – the raw flesh is really hard, so you won’t scoop out any flesh. You’ll just get the seeds.

Option 2: Leave It Whole

If you decide to microwave spaghetti squash whole, you just have one more little preparation step to take care of. Poke the squash 8 to 10 times with a sharp knife or a skewer. It’ll allow some steam to vent out of the squash while it cooks, and will reduce the chance of it exploding in the microwave. And that is a very good thing!

How to Microwave Spaghetti Squash

Compared to preparing it, microwaving spaghetti squash is super easy. Here’s how you do it:

1. Place the spaghetti squash in the microwave. If it’s whole, just put it in as is. If you cut it in half, place each half cut-side down in a microwave-safe dish.
   • You can put a little bit of water in the dish to keep the squash from drying out. You don’t need much, just 1/8 or 1/4 of an inch or so.
   • If you don’t want to add water, cover the squash and dish with a bit of microwave-safe plastic wrap, leaving a vent for steam to escape. This’ll keep in all the steam that the squash itself creates, and prevent it from drying out.
2. Microwave the spaghetti squash on high or medium high power 5 minutes at a time, until the squash is done.
   • Poke the squash with a sharp knife every 5 minutes. When the knife slides in pretty easily, the squash is done. Don’t overcook it, or your strands will turn to mush!.
   • Turn the squash every 5 minutes. It helps the squash cook more evenly, especially if you don’t have an automatic turntable.
   • It can take anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes to microwave spaghetti squash. It depends on how powerful your microwave is, how big the squash is, and whether or not you cut it in half.

Once you’ve cooked your first squash, you’ll have a better idea of how long it takes in your microwave. So that next time, it’s even easier to microwave spaghetti squash!

Scooping Out the Strands

Now you know how to microwave spaghetti squash, and you’re almost ready to get those neat spaghetti strands. But not quite ready. Let the squash rest a bit so that it has a chance to cool down. It’ll make getting the strands out a lot less painful!

A whole spaghetti squash should rest for at least 10 to 15 minutes. Squash halves don’t need to rest quite as long, because they’re more exposed to the cooler air, and so they cool down faster.

And now for the spaghetti strands!

1. If you cooked your squash whole, you’ll have to cut it now. Slice it in half lengthwise or crosswise with a big, sharp knife. Then scoop out the seeds.
2. Using a plain old dinner fork, scrape the sides of the squash.
   • Try scraping lengthwise. It goes against the grain of the strands, and it’s easier to get them out that way. Crosswise works better at the two ends though, where the strands attach to the rind.
3. Scoop out the strands and place them in a bowl. You should be able to scoop out most of the flesh, until you just have a tiny little rind left.

And that’s it! Your delicious spaghetti strands are ready. You just need a little sauce or some seasoning, and you’ll have a tasty meal. Or, you can store the spaghetti squash strands. They’ll keep in an airtight container in the fridge for weeks. Or for months in the freezer, although sometimes they’ll just turn to mush after freezing – better for a purée.

That’s all there is to it! Now you know how to microwave spaghetti squash. And as long as you avoid any squash explosion, it’s easy, quick, and delicious!

Home › Christmas Desserts › Making Chocolate Truffles

Gourmet chocolate truffles seem like they should be super hard to make, but making chocolate truffles is actually surprisingly easy — and a whole lot of fun, too! It’s just one of those foods that’s so delicious and fancy looking that you expect it to be really hard, but it’s not at all.

You just need a few basic ingredients to make gourmet chocolate truffles, and the method to make them couldn’t be easier. The only complicated thing about making chocolate truffles is the time it takes to make them — but even that doesn’t have to be so bad.

So why make your own chocolate truffles? Well, for one thing, it’s a lot cheaper than buying a box of gourmet chocolate truffles. But it’s also very fun and satisfying to make such an elegant dessert, and they make amazing chocolate gifts!

What could be better than something so good, lovingly homemade?

In this article, we’ll go over what you need to know about making chocolate truffles: the basic ingredients, the flavorings, the coatings, and the method for making your own gourmet chocolate truffles.

Basic Ingredients

Gourmet chocolate truffles are actually very simple things. They don’t need a lot of complicated, expensive, hard-to-find ingredients. You just need chocolate, cream and a bit of butter if you want. You can also use some flavorings and coatings, but we’ll go over those in the next two sections.

Chocolate

If you’re making chocolate truffles, it’s no surprise that you’ll need chocolate. But what kind of chocolate should you choose? Here are a few guidelines to help you pick.

• The quality of the chocolate you pick makes a huge difference: chocolate is the main ingredient. If you choose low-quality chocolate, you’ll end up with low-quality truffles.

  • Higher end chocolate generally has a better taste, and also melts a lot smoother than lower end chocolate.

  • A good rule of thumb is to let a piece of the chocolate you want to use melt in your mouth. If it tastes good on its own, melts smoothly, and isn’t grainy, you’ve got a good candidate.

• You can pick dark, milk or even white chocolate when making chocolate truffles. As long as it’s a good quality chocolate, you can pick any sweetness of chocolate you like. If you don’t like bittersweet chocolate, don’t use it!

  • I like to vary what kind of chocolate I use depending on the flavorings I pick. For vanilla truffles, I like a sweeter chocolate, but I prefer semi-sweet to bittersweet chocolate for orange truffles.

• The chocolate needs to be chopped up into little bits to make the truffles. So if you can find something that comes in chip form (like Ghirardelli chocolate chips), it’ll make your job even easier.

• How much chocolate will you need? That depends on how many truffles you want to make. But 12 oz of chocolate (or 2 cups of chocolate chips), makes about 24 to 30 truffles.

Cream

It takes more than just chocolate to make an outstanding gourmet chocolate truffle. To get that velvety smoothness and wonderful creamy texture, you need a bit of cream, too.

The amount you need depends on the kind of truffle you want. The more cream you use, the creamier a truffle you’ll get, but it’ll also be softer at room temperature. If you’re coating it in a chocolate shell, that’s fine, bit otherwise too much cream will mean too soft a truffle.

For 12oz of chocolate, you can use anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1 cup of cream.

Butter

Chocolate and cream are all you need when making chocolate truffles, but you can also add some butter for a bit of extra flavor. Just add a few tablespoons per 12 oz of chocolate, and you’re all set. You can add a bit at a time and taste it, adding more until it’s just right for you.

With some chocolate, cream, and a bit of butter, you have everything you need to make the most important part of a truffle: the ganache, which is the center, the filling.

Chocolate Truffle Flavorings

You can make a wonderful gourmet chocolate truffle with just chocolate and cream, and maybe some butter, but when you’re making chocolate truffles, it’s fun to add a little variety, especially if you’re giving out chocolate gifts. And that’s where flavorings come in.

You can make orange truffles, hazelnut truffles, truffles with vanilla, liqueur or fruit flavoring. Just think about gourmet chocolate truffles you like to buy: you just might be able to make them at home. Here are a few flavorings you can add.

Extracts

One of the easiest ways to add some flavor to your truffles is to add a bit of extract. You can find vanilla extract at any grocery store, but orange, almond, peppermint, or lots of other extracts make awesome gourmet chocolate truffles.

The amount you’ll need depends on the extract and how strong a flavor you want. The best way to get the right flavor is to add a teaspoon at a time in your melted chocolate/cream mixture, stir well, and taste. Then add a bit more if you feel it needs it.

Liqueurs

If you like gourmet chocolate truffles with a bit of a bite, you can add some liqueur to your chocolate ganache after you take it off the heat. Just whisk in a teaspoon or two at a time, taste, and add more if you want.

Grand Marnier, Kahlua, or Amaretto all make awesome chocolate truffles, but you can try out lots of different liqueurs.

Fruits and Herbs

When you’re making chocolate truffles, you have a lot of delicious choices for fruit flavorings. Raspberry, orange, and banana are just a few fruits that are awesome in chocolate truffles. And herbs like mint are great, too.

Sometimes you can just add a bit of extract and get a really authentic taste, but other times you just need the real thing. So how do you add real fruit and herb flavors to your own gourmet chocolate truffles?

For fruit, you can use fruit jam, or just mash your own fruit. For herbs, you can use whole leaves or sprigs. Just add the flavoring to the cream. Heat the cream and let it simmer until it absorbs the flavor. You can strain the milk afterwards to remove any lumps, or leave it as it is for a bit of texture – keeping in mind that not everyone like truffles that aren’t perfectly smooth.

Nuts

Nuts and chocolate are always delicious together. I’m not a huge fan of nut extracts though, so here’s what I like to do.

• Chop up some nuts like almonds or hazelnuts, and toast them. Then grind the roasted nuts to a powder, and add it to the chocolate ganache until it tastes nice and nutty.
• You can also cook equal parts sugar and butter to make a light caramel, add the nuts, and then let it harden. After, grind it to a powder and add it to the truffle mixture. It’ll give you a sweet praline flavor.
• You can also roast whole nuts and roll your truffles around them. That way you get a nice gourmet chocolate truffle with a nut in the center.

Others

When you’re making chocolate truffles, there’s really no end to what you can add for flavoring. A hint of a spice like cinnamon, or a bit of strong coffee, or anything else you can think of.

The key is to make sure that it blends well into the mix. You want to keep that nice smooth texture without making it too liquidy. So add it straight to the chocolate if you can, or saute it in the butter before adding it in, or boil it in the milk. And you’ll have delicious gourmet chocolate truffles to give out as tasty chocolate gifts.

Different Coatings

The last thing you need when making chocolate truffles is a coating. Once your truffle filling is shaped into a ball (we’ll go over that in the next section), you can roll them in a bunch of different toppings. Here are some ideas.

• The traditional truffle coating is cocoa powder. The idea is that the hand rolled truffles covered in cocoa powder look like real truffle mushrooms straight out of the ground. After all, that’s what this delicious dessert gets its name from.

• Instead of cocoa powder, you can also roll the truffles in confectioners’ sugar,shredded coconut, candy sprinkles or anything else that will taste nice and stick to the truffle filling.
• My favorite way to coat chocolate truffles is to dip them in chocolate. To do it right, though, you need to know how to temper chocolate so that it hardens to a nice, shiny, non-melty finish. For more information, check out this article on tempering chocolate.

Making Chocolate Truffles

Alright… now that you know what you need to make your own gourmet chocolate truffles, let’s go over the method for making chocolate truffles.

1. Chop up your chocolate so that it’s in very fine pieces. If you’re using chocolate chips, there’s no need to chop them up.

2. In a double boiler of medium low heat, melt the chocolate and cream together. Stir often, and keep heating until the mixture is smooth.

   • Alternatively, you can just heat the cream, bringing it just to a bowl, then pour it over the chocolate. Let it stand for a minute or two, and then stir it until the chocolate is all melted and the mixture is smooth.

   • If you do it this way, you can simmer in some flavorings into the cream at this point.

3. Swirl in the butter and whisk until it’s melted and incorporated into the ganache.

4. Whisk in your flavorings.

5. Pour the ganache into a bowl, and refrigerate it until it’s firm but not hard. It’ll take about an hour or two.

6. Shape the chocolate ganache into small balls, each using about a teaspoon or two of the chocolate.

7. Place your coating in a shallow bowl or plate, and roll your truffles in the coating so that they’re completely covered.

8. Store the truffles in an airtight container. They’ll stay good for a few weeks.

Notes

• Chocolate scorches really easily when it’s melting. That’s why the mild, indirect heat of a double-boiler is so handy. But if you don’t have one, you can always use an aluminum bowl over a pot of boiling water, or a pot directly over very, very low heat.

• When you use the double boiler, be sure that there isn’t any steam escaping. Any moisture in the chocolate might make it seize up and clump instead of being velvety smooth.

• When you’re rolling the truffles, if your ganache warms up too much, you can always re-refrigerate it for a bit until it’s the right consistency again.

• If you want to dip your truffles in chocolate, I recommend having a few sheets of wax paper to hold the truffles while the chocolate coating sets.

• You can dress up your chocolate-dipped truffles by drizzling them with a different colored chocolate. A zig-zag of white chocolate on a milk chocolate truffle looks very elegant and pretty.

Well, there you have it. You’ll be making chocolate truffles in no time. And then, you’ll be able to give all your friends wonderful chocolate gifts… if you can manage to save a few from your hungry family!

Enjoy!

Home › Making Soup › Making Chicken Stock – Part I

Go To Making Chicken Stock – Part II: How To Make Chicken Stock

Learning how to make chicken stock is one of the best favors you can do for yourself. Making chicken stock is really easy, and it’s better than anything you’ll buy in a store. To top it all off, it’s essentially free, since you make it out of things you’d probably throw out otherwise.

There are a lot of ways to use chicken stock. You can use it as a base for soups, sauces and gravies. You can use it to cook vegetables or rice. You can use it instead of milk in mashed potatoes. You can use it to replace water in a lot of dishes to add more depth of flavor. And the list goes on…!

There are just so many ways that a good chicken stock can improve your cooking. It’s definitely worth having a good supply on hand. And the better the stock, the better the meals you make with it. And the best stock is a homemade stock!

In this two-part article, I’ll show you how to make chicken stock, from start to finish. In Part I, I’ll talk about the difference between chicken stock and chicken broth, and the difference between a brown stock and a white stock. In Part II, I’ll go over the actual processes of making the chicken stock, clarifying it, and storing it.

Stock And Broth – What’s The Difference?

If you cook a lot, I’m sure that you’ve seen plenty of recipes calling for chicken broth and chicken stock. A lot of times, the words “stock” and “broth” are just thrown around as though they’re interchangeable. But actually, they’re not.

So what’s the difference?

The Way They’re Made

Chicken stock and chicken broth are similar, it’s true… Both are made from heating chicken parts in water. But they’re not actually the same thing.

Stock has a much richer flavor and more depth to it. It actually feels different in your mouth. So where does the difference come from? The simple answer is:

• Chicken stock is made from chicken bones, simmered in water for 4 to 6 hours.
• Chicken broth is made from chicken meat, simmered in water for 1 to 3 hours.

It’s actually a pretty important difference, because bones contain a protein called collagen. When you heat collagen, it breaks down and turns into gelatin. The gelatin goes into your stock, and gives it that special texture and taste that’ll make your soups and sauces out of this world.

Collagen takes a lot of time and heat to break down into gelatin. That’s why making chicken stock takes so much more time than making chicken broth. Luckily, you don’t have to sit there watching your stock simmer for 6 hours, so it’s not a whole lot more effort!

One more little note about making chicken stock. You don’t have to use only chicken bones to make the stock. You can also add a little bit of chicken meat to the stockpot.

In fact, most chicken stock recipes use herbs, spices, and aromatic vegetables like celery, onion and carrots to add some extra flavor. You can add some meat to do just the same thing, just as long as you have enough bones to get all that gelatin into the stock.

The Way They’re Used

Now that we’ve gone over the difference in how to make chicken stock and chicken broth, we can talk about the differences in how to use them.

Actually, you can use stock anywhere you’d use broth. You’ll just get a richer flavor and texture. You can even dilute the stock a little bit to get it to be more broth-like. This is a good idea if you don’t want it to be as flavorful (if you’re going for a very subtle chicken flavor, for example).

What about using broth instead of stock? Well, for certain recipes it’s okay to make the switch. You can do this for most soups and sauces, for example. You just won’t get that depth of flavor that a good stock brings to the mix.

But there are certain cases where you just have to use stock – no substitutions allowed!

• If you’re trying to deglaze a pan (that is, adding some liquid to the pan to dissolve all the flavorful brown bits in there), broth just won’t work. The gelatin in the stock helps bind to the bits left in the pan and lets you deglaze it properly.
• In some dishes, the jelly-like texture of stock is actually really important. For example, jellied soups and aspics need a good, rich stock to make. A broth will never set the same way a stock will.

For the most part, use your judgment here. If it looks like the jelly will be important, use stock. If not, use stock if you can, but don’t worry… the world won’t end just because you had to substitute a little chicken broth for your stock.

White Stocks and Brown Stocks

Okay, we’ve determined that making chicken stock takes chicken bones. But you may be wondering whether you need to use raw bones, or whether you can use leftover bones from a roast chicken.

The answer is: both. When making chicken stock, you can use either raw or roasted bones. Here’s the difference:

• Making chicken stock using raw bones will give you a lighter, paler, and clearer stock, called a white stock.

  • You can use a white stock if a pale color is important for whatever dish you’re making, or if you’re looking for more of a subtle flavor.

  • You can usually extract more gelatin from raw bones, so if you’re making something where the jellied consistency is really important, a white stock might be better.

• Making chicken stock using roasted bones will give you a darker stock with a fuller flavor, called a brown stock. A brown stock is generally quite a bit tastier that a white stock.

  • If you need lots of gelatin in your stock, you may want to add more bones to the stockpot than you would for a white stock, to get a higher gelatin content.

  • If you don’t have a leftover roast, you can roast some raw chicken bones in the oven at 450F, for about 45 minutes. While you’re at it, roast the aromatic vegetables that you’ll use. It’ll be extra delicious.

In the end, you can use either a white stock or a brown stock whenever you need to use chicken stock. It all comes down to whichever you prefer.

Alright, now that we know what stock really is, we’re ready to move on to Part II: How To Make Chicken Stock.

Home › Disclaimer

When you learn to cook, it can really be a fun and rewarding experience. If you think about it, food and eating play an important role in our lives. First, it’s just a biological necessity to keep us going… but it’s more than that, too.

Eating can be a kind of ritual, when the whole family sits down together for dinner. It’s a great moment of togetherness. And that’s why learning to cook can be such a benefit.

It’s something you have to do anyway, so you may as well have fun doing it. And if you do, well, it’ll make the dinner itself a better experience – it’ll taste better, be more fulfilling, and even be healthier.

So give it a shot, and learn to cook. This website will give you lots of useful information that’ll set you on the right track.

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Our goal at Enjoy How To Cook is to provide you with easy-to-follow, high quality information to help you learn to cook. We are not liable or responsible for any advice you obtain from this site, or how you use any of this information.

The website and its content are meant for educational purposes only. On our website, we do our best to point out possible safety issues when giving cooking instructions. However, you should be aware of basic cooking and kitchen safety whenever you cook, and always be careful. Always use your cooking equipment as directed by the manufacturer. Enjoy How To Cook is not responsible for any damage, accidents or injuries that may occur.

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Experimenting Is Part Of Learning

In many places on this site, we encourage you to learn to cook not only by following the instructions, but by being creative and trying new things – new spice combinations, varying quantities, etc…

Experimentation is a great teacher when you’re learning to cook. It teaches you that a recipe isn’t set in stone, and gives you the ability to modify recipes and techniques to better suit your tastes.

But don’t forget, not all experiments have a good outcome. Sometimes, you try a wild combination and it turns out wonderful, and other times… it just doesn’t. So experiment wisely. If you have an important dinner to make, or an expensive cut of meat, it may not be the right time to try something new and extreme.

Enjoy How To Cook is not responsible for the results of following any instructions of these pages or any experimenting you do.

You Can’t Argue With Taste

One of the great things about learning to cook is learning how to make meals for yourself and your family that everyone loves.

But keep in mind that everyone has different tastes. What works for someone might not work for someone else. And that goes for the recipes and techniques on this site, too!

The goal is to help you learn to cook, but some things may just not be right for you. Don’t get discouraged! Just try something else, and keep learning. The more you know, the easier it’ll be for you to understand how to tweak recipes so that you will love them.

And understanding what’s going on is they key to loving cooking. It gives you confidence, and the resources you need to turn an ordinary meal into a great one!

So don’t be afraid to learn to cook! There may be some setbacks once in a while, but for the most part you’ll taste your meals getting better and better every day!