How to Quickly and Safely Bring Butter to Room Temperature - And Only Way to Store Butter

 

"If you've ever decided to bake a batch of cookies at the last minute, you know that bringing a stick or two of butter to room temperature safely and quickly is important—but it's also tricky business" comment from editors at Martha Stewart.com.  

Click here to find out how to bring butter to room temperature the quick and safe way according to a representative of Land O'Lakes Butter.

"I realized, for all my butter love, I had no idea how long it could be left unrefrigerated. So I conferred with a culinary content specialist at Land O’ Lakes, Tonja Engen, to get some answers" - comment from Stella Totino of Simply Recipes.

Stella Totino

Stella is a former pastry chef turned food writer with years of experience testing and researching all things food. She is invested in discovering fun new flavors and the tools that help to create them.

Click here to find out the only way you should store butter according to Land O'Lakes. 

Secret To Silky Smooth Melted Chocolate

 

Photo source: Simply Recipes

The recipe comes from Simply Recipes and they have this comment about melting chocolate - "The number one mistake people make when melting chocolate is giving it too much heat. Too much heat can cause chocolate to burn, and when that happens, there’s no turning back."

Click here to go to the recipe page and find out what the secret is to successfully melting chocolate according to French pastry chef and master chocolatier Jacques Torres.

How to Freeze Cookies and Cookie Dough

 

Photo source: Better Homes and Gardens

"Frozen cookies, baked or unbaked, save the day when you don’t have time to bake a batch or when you want to get a head start on the holiday baking season" - description of the article from Better Homes and Gardens.

This is an excellent article that goes into every aspect of preparing for the baking season.

Click here to go to the article.

The Captain is still with us in spirit
and I honor his place in my life.

Gina's Crispy Cornmeal Fried Shrimp

Originally posted August 2011

My favorite meal . . . love it with a baked potato, corn, hush puppies and of course, lots of tartar sauce.

The way I make my fried shrimp, which I also use to pan fry fish and chicken fingers.  There is something about the corn meal that gives it that perfect texture and the Cajun seasoning (I use red cayenne pepper) gives it just enough spice.  

The other thing I do is use a generous amount of dill (sorry, I don't measure) in the flour mixture and a little garlic salt.  I love using dill when cooking seafood!  

I have a few variations.  When I'm in a real hurry, I don't even dip it in egg first . . . it still works well.  Sometimes I marinate the shrimp or fish in a little olive oil, lemon and dill for around 15 minutes instead of using the egg dip.  It gives a different dimension of flavor that is delicious and goes well with tartar sauce.

It is very important when cooking shrimp . . . do not overcook!  I have found that a total of 3 to 4 minutes is enough.  Quick and easy :)

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together ¼ cup flour, ¼ cup cornmeal, and 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning.

Dip 1 pound raw peeled and deveined medium or large shrimp in 2 beaten eggs, then coat in the cornmeal mixture.

In a skillet, cook the shrimp in ½ inch of oil until golden and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. 

Serve with tartar sauce.