BACK TO THE BASIC INGREDIENTS OF COOKING: Bouillons, Powders, Dairy and Labeling

I hope this series is helping some of you.  I’ll start this post by discussing labeling suggestions on how to and the importance of it.

I am currently am working on rebuilding many of my Master Mixes because I have some how let my made up ones get extremely low.  Of course there will be posts on doing that as well, be prepared for that series.

Labeling is probably one of the most important steps of food storage.  Not only what an item is, but when it was made, and how to use it.  Of course a label for any product may not need as much information on it as another. 

Examples of this are:

Italian Seasoning would only need the name and date made.

While homemade peanut butter slice and bake cookies would need the name, date, how thick to slice them,  cooking temperature and time.

Dry mixes like Quick Mix Master Mix would need an equivalent for what would be considered a packet of it, so 2 1/3 cups equals one packet/box.

It is very tempting to short cut on labeling or not do it at all, because you think you will remember the Brownie Mix is in the canning jar and the Chocolate Pudding and Pie Mix is in the recycled jar with the blue lid.  But will others know that?  Will you remember that six months from now?  They look smell and taste very similar.  Trust me, Chocolate Pudding and Pie Mix does NOT make good brownies.  Don’t ask me how I know.

What is the best way to do these labels? That is a personal decision.  I use three methods.

1.     Permanent Marker: When I am sealing the mix/cookies in Foodsaver or mylar bags I write directly on the bag, generally on the part I would cut off to open the bag so I can reuse the bag later.

2.     File Folder Labels: These are cheap and self adhesive.  I generally use these for temporary labeling for leftovers or what have you.  I do use a permanent marker to do the writing on the label.

3.     For my day to day mixes I recently purchased on a great sale the Brother PTouchlabeler.  Because these jars will be used over and over this more permanent label looks better as a canister label.  You can add picture coding if you like.

Whatever method you use please label clearly.

So let’s move on to the making your own cooking basics.  First up is bouillon and powders, yes bouillon those delightful little cubes, flakes, powders etc that you grab in a hurry when you don’t have time to make a good broth or stock, or the jar of cherished goodness in your freezer froze and burst leaving you nothing but glass shards or the zipper bag you froze in leaked out when you thawed it. 

One great advantage of making your homemade broth/stock into bouillon is STORAGE SPACE! None of us ever has enough storage space in our freezer for quarts and quarts of homemade stock.

The second advantage of homemade bouillons is you can cut down or eliminate salt and msg.  Not to mention some of the “other stuff” that is in some bouillons or canned broths.

Another advantage is there is no limit to the amount of flavors you can make beyond the basic beef, chicken/turkey, or vegetable bouillon you could have on hand pork/ham bouillon for beans, fish bouillon for chowders, any type of meat that has good bones you can roast and/or boil down can be turned into stock/broth and then turned into bouillon.  If you cook a lot of venison, then make venison bouillon.

Not to be left behind in the variety bouillon category homemade vegetablebouillon/powder is also limitless.  Turn the bounty of your garden, a great sale into vegetablebouillon/powder.  Any veggie or a combination of them will work.  It’s not all that hard to do.

Don’t forget you can do this with wild edibles you forage for too.

There are numerous recipes on the web for making the bouillons, but these are the simplest ones that I use and they don’t require me to purchase nutritional yeast or gelatin.  Less is more in my book, so I make bouillon powder with the fruits and vegetable instead of cubes for our home usage.

While you might not have a regular need for fruitbouillon powder you could make it just like the vegetable bouillon powder to add to smoothies, pies, cookies, cakes, sauces the list is endless.  You can also combine it with the veggies to make an even bigger variety for smoothies.

One of the great things about vegetable and fruit powders is you can often use the parts of the produce that you would normally discard.  The thick tough stalks of asparagus, broccoli, the peels of fruit and tomatoes (which is technically a fruit), over ripe produce, the thick veins of spinach, chard, and other greens.  Less waste and more nutritious food for your family. It is also a great way to sneak in fruits and vegetables your family won’t normally try.

Now on to dairy products.  You can replace a lot of cans, bottles, jars, etc with a single box or container of powdered milk, be it nonfat or whole milk (generally in the ethnic foods area of most major grocery stores).

Something I would like to mention here.  All the time I was growing up, right up to a few years ago I was taught that powdered/dry milk was always cheaper to use than buying milk by the gallon.  However, about 2009 we, meaning my husband and I, sat down with a calculator and discovered quite to our amazement that purchasing dried milk did not always save money, in fact in some instances, depending on the brand it was far more expensive to use if you were just reconstituting it to use as a liquid.  

Using it for making the other ingredients listed below it still came out cheaper for us to do. Plus it really helps with storage problems.

Of course you just reconstitute the milk per the package instructions and get your daily milk to drink, but around here that could get me in a whole lot of trouble.  My family can taste the difference, no matter how slight it is no matter how I try and hide it.  But in a pinch we have drank it very cold. 

I do cook with it a lot, in my master mixes, gravies, breads etc.  Those don’t bother my family at all.

Nor does it when I make these basics when cooking.

EvaporatedMilk: Use this recipe to replace evaporated milk in any recipe calling for it.

Sweetened Condensed Milk Non-cook:  Oh the luxury of it.  Simple to make, use it wherever you need the canned stuff. There are two different ways to make it SweetenedCondensed Milk Cooked, slowly heat it more and turn it into caramelly goodness.

Another milk item made with powdered milk that has two ways of making is buttermilk.  As in my post “A Single Quart of Buttermilk” shows I prefer using  live culture buttermilk version, but both work equally as well and you don’t always have starter buttermilk on hand.

Another every day dairy product that can be easily made with powdered milk is yogurt.  If you have read my previous post “It’s All Greek to Me” you already know I use whole liquid milk and my dehydrator to make multiple jars of yogurt at a time.  However, not everyone has a dehydrator, or they prefer a non-fat version of yogurt.  It that is you then you might prefer the powdered milk recipe for yogurt.

There are also various cheeses you can make using powdered milk, many require Rennet aka: Junket but some are super simple like Parmesan.  I’ll leave making other cheeses to a different post another time since they do involve rennet and other ingredients and today’s post is about simple powdered milk recipes.

One final item that you can easily make with powdered milk is sweetened whipped cream.

I hope you find some recipes that work for you in this post.  As always click on the hyper links to get the recipes and to view the other posts mentioned above.

BACK TO THE BASIC INGREDIENTS OF COOKING: Salts, Sugars and Storage

In this next segment of back to basics I’ll be looking at salts, sugars, and storage. 

Let’s start with storage containers. 

I personally prefer canning jars for just about everything.  I have them from the ½ pint size to the half gallon size.  I have both the regular mouth and wide mouth sealers for my Foodsaver that will vacuum seal these jars easily. 

I also have what was called a Winesaver, that the Foodsaver people put out years ago. It is a handheld unit that only works on specialized caps.   It allows me to avoid having to hook up the hose to use those attachments.  If you find one at a thrift store you might want to grab it up, since it has been discontinued.

You can also vacuum seal the jars using oxygen packets, however I prefer using the Foodsaver so as not to waste the oxygen packs I save those for other uses.

If you don’t have a Foodsaver or Winesaver, or if you want to use recycled glass jars from other products that have a rubber seal on the lid you can also use a non-electric product called Pump and Seal.  I own one of these also and have used it with great success many times.

If plastic is your preferred storage container, like in a camper that will be bouncing down the road a lot, you can use those too.  I have never tried an oxygen pack in one of those, but it would probably work if the lid seals tightly. I will be experimenting with that option soon.

Some metal storage containers will work well too. 

Before switching over to canning jars I often used 2 liter soda pop bottles to store in.  I would make a funnel out of the top of one bottle by cutting off the top 1/3 of the bottle.  Then as I filled I would tap the bottle on the counter or with my hand to fill in all the spaces and force the air out.  Fill the bottles to maximum and you create an almost oxygen free container. 

I also us Foodsaver continuous roll bags to store larger volumes of flours, mixes and such to keep them fresh until I need to add them to my canning jars.   If it is going to be a long term storage I then put that Foodsaver bag in a sealed mylar bag. Then stored inside a food grade bucket. Whatever your storage method choice is making your own cooking basics will save you a lot of time and waste.

You can recycle shaker bottles from other spices or you can create your own by using recycled jars with metal lids.  Poke the desired number of holes in the lid with a nail or ice pick and a hammer   Then use the hammer to flatten any sharp edges. To seal these jars when you aren’t using you can either keep a solid back up lid of the same size or put a layer of plastic wrap, wax paper or parchment paper between the lid and the jar.

No shakers on hand, or don’t want to mess with making your own shaker lid.  Do as I do, just dip it out of a jar with a spoon and sprinkle it on.

So on to more basics recipes.

SALT:

In my “Spices of Life” blog post I gave the recipe for making celery salt, garlic salt, onion salt and seasoned salt.  In case you missed those in that blog you can click on the hyperlinks for each one and it will take you to the recipe.

Gourmet Salt Blends:  Salt is very good about absorbing the scent and oils of various herbs.  You can create your own blends or try one of these. Chili, Citrus, Herb, Pepper, Seaweed or even expensiveTruffle salt, all by far cheaper than you can buy pre-made. 

Kosher and Pickling salt are basically the same creature in most cases and can be used in place of each other.  Sometimes Kosher salt is a little more of a flake than a crystal. 

The only thing you need to watch for is that the Kosher salt doesn’t have an additive to prevent caking, generally it is cornstarch   if you are going to pickle with it.  That additive will cause cloudiness and possible mushy pickles.

Neither is iodized and neither can be replaced by table salt in a recipe. So for most households a container of one or the other is all you need instead of both.  If you are going to use it for pickling as well as for Kosher salt a container of pickling salt would probably be your best choice.   

Smoked:  A family member loves this stuff and was paying premium prices for it until we discovered this recipe.

SUGARS:  Use either regular granulated sugar or raw sugar for any of these recipes. Be aware that raw sugar will not be white because it still has the molasses sap in it.

WARNING: If your blender or food processor has a plastic bowl on it whirling sugar in it may scratch the bowl because it is crystals.

Brown, Agave, or Maple: Whether it is light brown sugar, or dark brown it’s simple to make and so are the other two.

Cinnamon: The first time I saw the shakers of cinnamon sugar in the spice area of the grocery I was stunned that anyone would pay that high of a price for something so easy to make.

Citrus:  Flavor beverages or rim a drink glass with this special sugar.

Colored Sanding: Whether it is for decorating sugar cookies, cakes or pies colored sugars in those little bottles seem cheap when you first look at them in the stores, but if you do the math as to how many of those little bottles would be needed to create a pound of it you will be aghast.  Who pays $25 or more for a pound of sugar? Even better, you can use raw sugar if you like in this recipe. You can make it with either actual white sanding sugar or save even more and use your regular granulated.

Powdered: A commonly used sugar that it always seems like you are just a little bit short on when you are in a hurry.  End that problem by making your own as you need it.

Superfine:  when making meringues and other foods recipes sometime call for superfine sugar.  I make these items so seldom I prefer to make my own than to buy the more expensive sugar.

I hope these recipes help you simplify your pantry storage and cut your grocery budget.

BACK TO THE BASIC INGREDIENTS OF COOKING: Making your own specialty flours

While standing in the baking section of our local grocery store I looked at all the versions of different basic cooking ingredients and couldn’t believe my eyes at all the “varieties” of everything. 

Then I thought of my great aunt and grandmother’s kitchen from my childhood.  In that kitchen there were basic ingredients salt, flour, sugar, molasses, cornstarch and similar baking/cooking ingredients.  They didn’t have 3 types of sugar purchased from the grocery, or three or more types of flour they had the basics. With those simple basics they produced some of the finest foods you would ever want to eat.

I then thought about my own kitchen where I have been slowly going back to just the basics ma’am, just the basics.

My last post “The Spices of Life” listed many of the spice and herb blends I use instead of buying numerous expensive bottles of blends.  Simple to make and handy to have on hand. It included links for all the recipes to make them over to my Patterson's Pantry Recipe blog, just as this will too. 

It has turned out to be a popular post.  So I thought I would also share some of the other things I make to use instead of having so many varieties of different things in my cupboards.

There are several reasons to cut down the number of items you purchase.  Here are the top ones in my book in no certain order:

1.     Cost.  Anytime you start buying “specialty” items the price of that item goes up.  After all the cost to the manufacturer to add the extra equipment, employees to run the equipment and different packaging adds up.  When you produce these items at home you eliminate all that.  You are simply turning one item you own into something else often quite quickly.  Take coconut flour, one of the most expensive flours to purchase.  You can make that yourself by using the coconut you already have in your pantry and you also get the bonus of producing coconut milk at the same time, which is expensive to purchase itself.

2.     Freshness. When you have numerous varieties of an item they don’t get used as often as when you have only one. It is very easy to forget you have a bag of self rising flour in the back of your pantry and never getting around to using it before it goes stale or develops “renters” in it.

3.     Control.  Making your own gives you control over what goes in.  When you have health concerns that is very important.  Things like self rising flour can be made from organic unbleached flour in your own home.  You won’t often find that in the grocery.

4.     Waste.  You can make as little or as much as you want and avoid waste of the product.

5.     Smarter storage usage.  Let’s face it if you purchase bags of say four varieties of flour that is four space hogs in your pantry or fridge.  If you leave it in the original packaging you run the risk of losing it to pests and the product going stale.  So you put it in canisters when you get home with it.  That means then you have four bags/boxes to get rid of.  Many cities and dumps charge you by volume.

6.     Convenience and a larger variety to your meals.  I know, because it is a 20 minute drive one way to a grocery for me I will not cook something if I don’t have the correct ingredients, or at least a viable substitute (a subject for another blog post).  Since I started making many of my own basics our menu options have increased tremendously.

Let’s get started with flours in this post.  I will do other posts on other themes.  Since there is such a huge variety of flours this one will probably be the longest post of this series.  Remember just click the hyperlinks for the actual recipes

FLOURS MADE WITH ALL PURPOSE FLOUR, BLEACHED OR UNBLEACHED:

We all generally have all-purpose (ap) flour on hand, and for most recipes, whether you prefer bleached or unbleached that is all you need.   However, there are times you need “specialty” flours that can get quite expensive.  I have used these homemade versions with wonderful results.

Bread:  I bake a lot of bread and bread flour is expensive as any baker will tell you.  That is also another canister or vacuum sealed bag to deal with.  By purchasing a package of vital wheat gluten you can eliminate that extra large space hog for a much smaller box/jar (I vacuum seal just about everything in Mason jars any more and avoid loss to rodents or pantry-weevil moths. Don’t tempt those critters they won’t show up). Just in case you are thinking you don’t want to purchase vital wheat gluten just for this purpose.  Know that it helps lighten the density of such grain breads as wheat and rye.  So it is handy to have for those as well.

Cake: Generally cake flour is milled from soft wheat to a fine texture, but it is also expensive.  After some discussion with professional bakers and a little research I learned that there was no need for me to take up valuable pantry space with a box of cake flour, that I could make as much as I needed simply and swiftly with basic ingredients.  Click the link for the recipe.

Self Rising: I seldom use this flour so buying even a five pound bag of it meant I would need to vacuum seal it to keep it fresh and remind myself to use it up quickly.  Not any more.

Wondra Instant:  This one is often hard to find, and since I use it in my homemade gravy mixes I was truly happy to find a homemade version of it.

SPECIALTY FLOURS: These don’t use all purpose flour, but they are simple to make to avoid storing numerous expensive containers of various other “flours”.  Most are gluten free, 

Almond,Pistachio, Walnut, Pecan, Hazel Nut and Other Nut: I love trying new recipes.  What I don’t love is having to rush out to purchase special ingredients to try them.  Currently there are a lot of recipes hitting the web that use nut flours.  You want to talk expensive?  Just make your own for half the price.

Bean, Buckwheat, Millet, Quinoa or Rice flour: As you spread your wings and try various ethnic recipes you sooner or later find recipes using various bean or rice flours.  Unless you have a grocery that carries that type of cuisine you may not be able to find the flour, so make your own.

Cashew, Flax Meal, Linseed Meal, Oat, Sunflower Seed:  These are super easy to make because they are soft and easy to grind.  They are often used in addition to other flours.

Coconut: One of the most expensive specialty flours can not only be made at home in just a few steps, but you also get the by product of coconut milk to use in other recipes. 

Fruit or Vegetable Powder/Flour: While you probably won’t find recipes that call for a specific fruit or vegetable powder or flour it is very handy to have to make breads, pie crusts and other baked goods extra flavorful.  Use the vegetable powders to add nutrition to soups, casseroles, meat loaves, meat balls and other things.

Rye, Wheat and Other Grains: Making these flours yourself give you better quality flours than what regular groceries carry. 

SoyGrits and Flour: More and more recipes are calling for this ingredient.  If you have access to mature soy beans and water you can make your own.

UNIQUE FLOURS AND COATINGS:

While technically a flour once made these are more often used for coatings or pie crusts.  Think outside the box to add texture and flavor to your meals. 

Crackers, multigrain cereals, rice cereal, corn flakes graham crackers, cookies, pretzels, snack chips of all sorts, the list is endless.  The how to for these is here.