Facts Of Basics – Part 3, Eggs, Milk, and Flavorings
I know, I know!! I’ve had several comments saying;”Enough already with these (yawn) posts about the facts of basic ingredients” and I promise to rest the subject after this week…. but the truth is prices are going up and you should know about the essentials in order to determine how to cope with the situation. Learning how the basic ingredients go from field to table helps you evaluate your options in replacing them and to recognize related products so you can anticipate their cost hikes as well.
For example, sugar cane wasn’t caught in the drought, so its products shouldn’t be affected by that, but corn was—big time—and sweeteners made from corn, like syrup, and related items, such as soft drinks, syrups and jellies will be. Also expect the cost of oils from corn and other damaged crops such as soybeans and sunflowers to go up raising the prices of things cooked with them, potato chips, other “snacks” and many frozen foods. Another big victim of the drought was wheat. The category of foods containing flour is huge. It includes everything made from dough or batter, cakes, pastry, cookies, crackers, pasta, breads of all sorts, mixes, cereals, even dry pet foods.
Of course a major concern of this summer’s drought was the low yield of fodder and resultant culling of livestock. It too will have more influence on prices than just seen in the meat counter. On the light side, this week I had to buy rawhide bones for my dog and was shocked that the price had jumped 25% per pack in a few days! More importantly, however, some major nutritional sources, we have always relied upon as staples, are going to become quite costly. Some like bacon, milk and eggs have been edging up the past year. Others like sour cream and cream cheese have been more subtle, but all dairy products will have substantial price increases in the months to come. That’s just a projection based on reduced supply. If Congress fails to renew The Farm Bill this year, milk prices alone, for example, could skyrocket to $6.00 even $10.00 per gallon, starting in January 2013. I think it’s time for me to explain that the friend who started this whole series of posts by asking about cutting costs in buying basic supplies in general, and in particular to prepare for the holidays, works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She had made an informed guess about future pricing.
So let’s start with a true basic, eggs. I’m hoping with improved breeding methods, short gestation and maturation period of chickens, the enforced reduction will be brief and their numbers restored quickly. However, it will require a good harvest to ensure sufficient feed and that will take at least a year. Meanwhile, we’ll have to learn to “cope”. Unfortunately, normal egg substitutes, like Egg Beaters will not offer a solution, because they do contain eggs and their prices will be affected as well. A few years ago, I was consulted on cooking for a child with a severe egg allergy, especially baking “goodies”. The first thing I supplied was a really delicious eggless cake recipe which I’ve included below. Then I found a quite successful egg substitute in the Vegan Section of a natural foods store. It was relatively expensive, as specialty items tend to be, but it compensated by making far more dishes than the equivalent amount of eggs would have for the price. It won’t scramble or whip to a meringue but with milk, it will make custard or a quiche. It was excellent for thin batters, like pancakes and did well in muffins needing only one egg. I found that in cakes requiring three or more, it was better to replace only two and use real “hen fruit” for the last. I often combine quick bread recipes to yield multiple loaves, and for them, I use half real eggs and half substitute. In any case, I’ve found egg substitute to have the potential to be a real economy measure in the months ahead. I used a brand called Ener-G from a firm in Seattle,WA. I would suggest you find a store selling natural foods or Vegan specialties near you, and ask for their recommendations, simply because they will be able to advise you as to their stock and stand behind their merchandize.
The second true basic I’m going to discuss is milk. Finding a replacement for milk is a real dilemma. The usual substitute is soy, but the soybean crop is also on the drought’s victims list. Because of taste, my family plans to keep drinking milk, but to swap powdered milk for the liquid in cooking. Since powdered is milk, simply in a different form, its price will go up as well, but being condensed, it will like the egg substitute, go further and can even be mixed with lesser amounts of different fluids to add concentrated flavors to many dishes. It works especially well in soups.
I’m even learning to use Evaporated Milk in cooking, especially casseroles and baking and I’ve found that, as advertized, it does reduce and thicken sauces just as heavy cream does. Chilled, it will even whip, and many people like its slightly caramel flavor in beverages. It is a form of milk, so its cost will rise as milk’s does, but with 60% of the water removed, it goes substantially further, and can even be diluted. It comes in whole, low fat and fat free verities. However, if reducing and thickening a sauce, I suggest you use the whole. NEVER, EVER confuse it with Sweetened Condensed Milk which is whole milk, sweetened before it is condensed and used for making desserts and candies. If I have some of this left over from my Christmas baking, I may put a spoonful into hot cereal, or on a baked apple, or in cocoa, as it cooks but that’s it.
Though it’s not a basic, I’m including chocolate on this discussion, not because the cocoa crop is endangered, but because it’s such a staple of so many holiday recipes. I’m not going to go into the extraction process or any particulars, because there are hundreds of verities of cocoa bean and as many, if not more variations in processing, depending on the manufacturer and country. Fundamentally, the bean is roasted and ground. In its pure processed form it’s called cocoa liquor; a mixture of cocoa solids and 55% cocoa butter. Bittersweet and semi-sweet are the liquor mixed with vanilla, sugar and other flavorings, sometimes extra cocoa butter as well. Semi-sweet has less sugar. Milk chocolate has less liquor, more sugar and milk solids added which give it a shorter shelf life. White chocolate has no cocoa solids, but is made with 1/3rd cocoa butter, 1/3rd sugar and 1/3rd milk solids. It should be ivory in color, if it’s white the fat has been replaced with vegetable solids and it’s inferior quality. German chocolate has less cocoa butter making it more brittle. Dutch chocolate has an alkalizing agent added to smooth the taste. In past years, cooks did this themselves with a pinch of baking soda in the batter. Pure cocoa powder, or baking chocolate is pure, unsweetened, chocolate liquor with 75% of the cocoa butter removed.
Have you ever noticed you take care in making favorite recipes? You buy all the right ingredients, measure exactly, watch the time and refuse to experiment. As a lifelong chocohalic, I had several types of chocolate on hand, until I inherited the family Christmas cookie duty. I simply couldn’t make the traditional recipe for the chocolate ones work. Melted chocolate stiffened when chilled and was difficult to roll. The pre-melted packets lent an oily taste. Finally, I found that unsweetened cocoa powder with margarine was the answer. It heightened the taste and though butter stiffed the chilled dough, margarine left it pliable. From then on, I only buy a specific form of chocolate if a mixture of cocoa powder and other ingredients won’t work. I use it in batters, dough, icings, custards, mousses, beverages, even syrups and ganache. You simply follow the formula:
! oz. chocolate = 1 square = 3 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder + 1 Tbs. butter, shortening or
vegetable oil. For semi-sweet add 1 Tbs. sugar OR to taste.
Very few recipes call for milk chocolate as an ingredient, but if I need to simulate it I find that I can
mix the unsweetened chocolate, then add melted white chocolate, beginning with 1 Tbs. and
building to taste, then add sugar as desired.
Most flavorings come in an extract form which is more intense than the real article. Moreover, using the original item, be it a liquid, solid or paste, in the degree needed to achieve desired taste could require amounts that would compromise balance of the ingredients and ruin the finished product. Generally, the extracts are easier to store, use and far more economical to buy than the originals, but occasionally there are exceptions. For some citrus fruits grated peel and juice can replace the liquid in the recipe. Often concentrated juice is recommended, but be sure to test frequently to avoid an undesirable taste alteration, and never substitute a fruit “drink” that contains additives, especially sugar.
The vanilla bean is much touted these days. It’s delicious, but it’s also expensive and to extract the seeds takes time and work. Unless you have a specific recipe that demands it, and an audience that will recognize and appreciate the real thing, I advise using an extract. There are two grades of those. Pure is made from vanilla and advisable for the special festive dishes, but imitation is really affordable and the answer for mass baking for organization or club projects.
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And so ends my long winded response to my friend’s simple question concerning ways to cut expenses when buying the basic ingredients involved in preparing for the holidays. I sincerely hope this information will help you and can freely admit, that in researching these posts, I’ve learned things that I intend to try myself in the coming weeks.
PAN CAKE-also called CRAZY CAKE:
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
Sift all ingredients into an ungreased cake pan. Make 3 holes in the mixture. Pour into:
#1—3 Tbs. cooking oil
#2—1 Tbs. vinegar (I use white)
#3—1 tsp. vanilla
Pour 1 cup water over all, and stir with a fork until blended. Bake 35-49 mins. in a 350degree preheated oven. NOTE—I double the recipe and bake it in a 9”X13” inch pan for a sheet cake.
UNBELIEVABLE EGGNOG;
1.5 qts. Eggnog ice cream—softened
1 cup light cream or half and half
Brandy and Rum extracts to taste- start with 1 Tbs. of each
1 oz. or to taste Bourbon or Rye Whiskey
Ground nutmeg.
Place the ingredients, except nutmeg in a punch bowl. Beat well with an immersion blender or 1 whisk of a hand blender. This has to be done carefully to avoid hitting the sides of the bowl. Adjust taste as you blend. Stop when it’s well mixed and tastes correct. Lightly sprinkle the nutmeg on the foam that forms on top. If made ahead, keep chilled, and briefly rebeat to restore the foam, then sprinkle the nutmeg.
This recipe avoids any problems with raw eggs, and the low alcohol content makes it safe to drink and drive, as well as an acceptable treat for younger guests, yet it’s surprisingly satisfying. I’ve had many compliments on it from sophisticated people who had no notion it wasn’t the real thing. It could probably be made with full strength alcoholic content.
