Britnee Timberlake's Institute of Home Cooking Blog

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!!

2010-03-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

1 Hour Irish Soda Bread!

15-25 Minute Prep
35-45 Minute Bake

Ingredients:
4 to 4 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 Tbsp butter
1 cup raisins
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 3/4 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Whisk together 4 cups of flour, the sugar, salt, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl. Mix the butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.

3. Stir in raisins.

4. Add beaten egg and buttermilk and mix in with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir.

5. Dust hands with a little flour, then GENTLY knead dough in the bowl just long enough to form a rough ball.

6. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into a round loaf.

7. The dough will be a little sticky. As needed add a bit of flour so that you can handle the dough. DO NOT: over-knead because then it will become tough.

8. Again, transfer the dough. This time it will be to a large, lightly greased baking sheet. Using a knife, cut/score the top of dough about an inch and a half deep in an “X” shape. Bake until bread is golden brown, about 35-45 minutes.

Commemorating Black History Month

2010-02-24T12:11:00.000-08:00

The Story Behind Soul Food…

I personally love “Soul Food.” It was the first type of cuisine I learned how to prepare. A great deal of what I learned came from my grandmother who was a share cropper in Durham NC. Being a sharecropper, not only did grandma know how to grow and raise southern food and animals, but she knew how to prepare it. Soul Food originated down south USA during times of slavery. The food derived from scraps which the masters would allow the slaves to keep for their families. Have you ever heard of the saying… “When life gives you lemons…make lemonade.” Well this saying was put into practice by the enslaved African peoples of the United States. Wonderful comfort meals such as chicken and dumplings began to develop. The scrap vegetables were favored and cooked down by using a piece of meat most likely from the pig, and many things that were viewed upon as taboo were made into food.
Now of days, Soul Food is no longer only made with scraps. It consists of an array of different hearty fresh foods and prime meats such as Baked Mac and Cheese, Sweet Potatoes, Collard Greens, Fried or Baked Chicken, Smothered Pork Chops, Ham, Corn Bread and much more! Most Soul Food involves three basic seasonings which are sugar, salt, and pepper (however other seasonings can be used). Other flavorings aside from seasonings are usually induced by meat. Two primary meats used in Soul Food are Chicken and Pork. When seafood is requested, a fried fish is usually preferred. Porgies, Whiting, and Catfish are the most popular types of fish used. Soul Food is prominent in the houses of most African Americans however; Soul Food is not restricted only to those of African descent. It has crossed color barriers by becoming popular amongst all peoples in America. Perhaps the most well known Soul Food restaurant which is frequented by tourists from all over is “Silvia’s” located in Manhattan NYC. “Silvia’s” has been around for years. Silvia herself is a wonderful person whom is a family friend of my Grandfathers. Furthermore, when you travel down south USA, you will not find a difference in the way the southerners eat based off of race, instead, Soul Food is a shared culture in the south. It is usually referred to as “Southern Cuisine” and found on the tables of most southerners in spite of their heritage. Due to my extensive Soul Food background, recipes such as the “Country Fried Fish” and the “String Beans” are contained in my book IS THERE A CHEF IN THE HOUSE. Also for a free Soul Food “Sweet Potato” recipe of mine http://www.athomecookinginstitute.com/free-recipe.html.

"10 Commandments for a Super Moist Turkey"

2009-10-10T04:55:00.000-07:00

"10 Commandments for a Super Moist Turkey"

Thanksgiving is coming!

You are well on your way to never cooking a dry turkey again.

"10 Commandments for a Super Moist Turkey" provides you with great tips to creating a mouth watering succulent turkey. Impress all of your family and friends this holiday season!

Go To: www.athomecookinginstitute.com/turkey.html

Wet Salad!

2009-10-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

What is "Wet Salad"?

What I call "wet salad" is when you make a salad using cabbage (sliced, diced, or shredded) in place of regular lettuce. You then saturate your salad with your choice of dressing (I usually use vinegar). Wet salad has a great crispy texture. It could stand for hours even days without becoming soggy like a salad made with regular dressing would.

For an ideal wet salad, after you mix all of the ingredients together, let it stand for about 2 hours. This will ensure the flavors of the dressing are being worked in to the cabbage and the other veggies. Below is a wet salad that I love to make.

Mix together the following:

Shredded Green Cabbage
Sliced Cucumbers
Sliced Carrots
Sliced Green Peppers
Sliced Vidalia (red) Onions
Fresh minced Garlic
Fresh Cracked Pepper
Salt
Balsamic or White Vinegar

I was inspired to create the wet salad above when I ate something similar to it at a really great restaurant in NJ called “Harold’s of NYC”. This salad makes for a huge flavor blast! It is also very healthy. Use the wet salad as a side dish to sandwiches such as subs/hoagies or even hamburgers.

If you notice I did not tell you how much to use of each ingredient above. I have done this on purpose so you can control your own taste pallet. In other words, use as much or as little of everything as you would like. For the olive lovers out there, feel free to throw a few olives in.

Enjoy!
Very Truly Yours,
Britnee Timberlake

P.S. Play around with wet salad, replace the lettuce in some of your ordinary favorite salads with cabbage.

Let’s Talk about Rice Baby!

2009-09-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

Rice seems to be one of the main things people categorize as being “hard to cook”. Most women I talk to ask me about cooking rice above all other foods. Here is what I have learned over the years about rice:

Rice seems to sometimes have a mind of its own. When you think you are cooking it right, all of a sudden the rice proves you wrong by turning to mush. AHHHHH I hate this. Truth be told, in a way, rice does have a mind of its own. It is one of those foods which do not require much maintenance. Rice is very independent. What I mean by all of these statements which greatly involve my own personification of rice is, just leave it alone and let the rice cook itself.

All you have to do is…

1. BOIL the correct measured amount of water (instructions can be found on the bag)

2. Add the correct measured amount of rice to the BOILING water (instructions can be found on the bag)

3. Pour the rice while stirring it into the BOILING water.

4. Quickly Stir in salt and Butter (step 3 and 4 should only take about 20 seconds)

5. Turn the boiling water DOWN to the lowest burner possible before turning the burner off

6. Put the lid on the pot

7. Let the rice simmer/steam cook itself, in other words leave it alone :)

• No you do not have to keep taking the lid off the pot to check the rice.
This lets the steam out of the pot which will have a negative effect on the cooking process.

• No you do not have to keep stirring the rice.
When you keep stirring the rice your rice will grow stickier by the minute. This will eventually turn the rice into mush! However if you want the effect of a semi sticky rice you can stir the rice a little bit perhaps twice while it is cooking.

• No you do not have to turn the burner to high at any point the rice is in the pot.
This will not result in the rice cooking fast. Instead, it will result in the rice burning in the bottom of the pot... then you will have the smoke alarm going off and the entire house stinking. :) The only time your burner should be up high is when you are trying to bring the water to a boil before you add the rice.

This should help you conquer that “hard to cook” rice.

Very Truly Yours,

Britnee Timberlake

Sandwiches

2009-09-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

I love fantastic sandwiches. I am kind of like Bill Cosby in how he was always making the biggest and best sandwiches on "The Cosbys" TV show. By the way, ladies… it is foot ball season… which means it is sandwich season for our men (and for some of us who are football fans too ;). I have a 10 tips for you to help take your ordinary sandwich making to the extraordinary level:

Tip 1: Use salad dressings as sandwich spreads.

Tip 2: Pesto is king!(Pesto is often viewed as a fancy spread but in fact there is really nothing fancy [other than its flavor]to it).

Tip 3: Sautee and season some tomatoes to replace the regular raw ones.

Tip 4: Use cranberry Sauce on your turkey sandwiches.

Tip 5: Buy your sandwich bread from a fresh dough bakery.

Tip 6: Everyone loves a little cole slaw on their sandwich (it makes for great texture and flavor) Add a little spicy mustard to it and you are in the money!

Tip 7: Double up on your meats (pair turkey with bacon while salami is great with ham and pepperoni).

Tip 8: Use your left over meat from last night’s dinner to make great sandwiches.

Tip 9: Combine Tip 2 and 4 in the same sandwich and it is great! If you are a vegetarian and want to spice up a cheese sandwich this is how to do it!

Tip 10: Use thinly sliced deli meat instead of thick (this will make the meat less tough) but please do pile the meat high.

Be creative!
Be confident!
Have fun!
You are great!

Very Truly Yours,
Britnee Timberlake

Cooking Games

2009-09-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

Cooking Games TARGET="_blank">www.breakfreefromcookbookbondage.blogspot.com"

Click on "cooking games" there are so many cooking games online here for little boys and girls to play with. I see a new generation of top chefs realizing their passions :)

Collard Greens on the Show "Chopped"

2009-09-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

Ok. So… I was watching one of my favorite TV shows "Chopped." The secret ingredient was collard greens. No one really knew what they were! LOL it was very interesting to see chefs who have been formally trained not know what this was. I expect for everyday people to not know anything about "collards" but it is unacceptable for chefs not to know. I did however feel bad for the chefs because collard greens take forever to cook down properly, and on chopped you only have 30 min to make something edible
For those who do not know... Collard greens are a very thick leafy vegetable that is used as a staple when cooking “soul food” (usually only substituted by string beans or cabbage). They are usually cooked down in a pot with a meat such as a smoked ham hock or a turkey neck for flavoring. “Soul food” is a food which originated down south USA during slavery. The history behind it is as follows: after the slaves harvested the fields the masters would leave them the scraps to cook with. In turn the slaves made something out of nothing which influences the way people eat today. Today all soul food is not made with scraps, but it includes dishes like home made Mac and cheese, collard greens, fried chicken, grits, smothered pork chops, an array of ribs, okra, among many other things. Soul food is most commonly identified today with the African American Peoples of America. Personally, I love soul food. It is one of the first cuisines I learned how to make being that I was raised up on it! It is very hearty and savory. Anyone can make it if they try and are taught by someone who knows what they are doing. Almost everything in soul food from the side dishes to the main entree consists of comfort food. It truly is food for the soul! Chopped get it together! :)

GREAT SEMI-HOMEMADE DONUTS

2009-08-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

A quick donut recipe which is semi homemade is as follows...

You need:
• Can of Regular Pillsbury Biscuits (non flaky)
• Powder Sugar and/or Cinnamon Sugar
• Small Round Cookie Cutter
• Vegetable Oil

Do:
• Pop open your can of Pillsbury regular biscuits.
• Lay your biscuits out individually onto a clean smooth surface.
• Use a small cookie cutter to poke a hole into the center of the biscuit, or roll it into little balls.
• Pre-heat in a deep sided frying pan vegetable oil on low-med heat.
• Drop the biscuit dough into the pre-heated oil.

1. (Using tongs) Flip the dough as needed making sure both sides of the dough are thoroughly cooked (the dough will turn a light brown/golden color when done.)

2. Remove the dough from the hot oil.

3. Using a paper towel, lightly dab the oil off the donut then quickly dip the donut into a bowl containing either powder sugar or cinnamon sugar.

4. There you have a simple recipe to make simple donuts.

TIP: You can serve the donuts hot and fresh with side of warm strawberries or cherries. You can also melt dark or white chocolate to dip the donuts in.

My mother used to make these when we were kids! I loved it!

It has been a pleasure...

Very Truly Yours,
Britnee Timberlake
Master Home Cook

Cooking With Britnee

2009-07-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to My Kitchen

A GREAT TIME SAVER IN THE KITCHEN!

2009-06-10T04:31:00.000-07:00

My favorite appliance in my kitchen is the food processor. I am all for hard work and a little elbow grease. Let’s face it, sometimes there is no time for that. This is why I love to use my food processor. It has various speeds and various functions according to what I am looking to do. For instance, if I need to chop a bunch of veggies, all I have to do is add them to the food processor and hit the words “CHOP” if I want to puree something it does that too. You can make homemade guacamole or salsa with this awesome device. Or even chop/shred cheese for a salad or macaroni and cheese. A good food processor will save you at least 75% off your usual prep time. Ladies we know how great 75% off makes us feel in almost every situation (SMILE). So invest in a food processor, it works.

Gravy!!!!!!!!!!

2009-06-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

When you are making a tomato gravy skies are the limit to what you can create. You want to grab some of your fresh favorite Italian herbs such as basil, oregano, etc. Grab about 10 large tomatoes, your favorite Italian red wine, two garlic cloves, 1 large Vidalia (red) onion, as well as my personal favorite 1 green pepper.
Chop up your tomatoes and place them on the stove on a medium heat or put them in a crock pot for slow cooking. The crock pot will allow you to do other things while your gravy worries about itself. When you see the tomatoes begin to stew. Add all of your other ingredients to the pot. Make sure all of your other ingredients are finely chopped.Brown and season some ground beef add it to the the rest of the ingredients. Season your gravy to taste with salt, pepper, sugar. Add about 3-5 table spoon of flour for thickness and if you want your gravy to be really thick add 2 cans of tomato paste. Stir the sauce really good. Turn the burner down to a low heat and let everything simmer and slow cook together. Stir occasionally, and continue to taste the sauce so that you can continue to season it according to your taste. ENJOY

Trials and Tribulations of Garlic

2009-05-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

Ok So, I love fresh garlic. I love to peel and chop it myself. Well if you are like me when it comes to garlic, then you probably noticed garlic is not quite as fond of you as you are of it. What I am talking about is the smell the garlic leaves behind on your fingers after your hand chop it. Sure garlic smells great when you are sitting at a dinner table but its not so great to carry that with you everywhere you go. I have heard about all types of home made remedies for what I call "garlic fingers". But in trying these remedies, I found that unmistakable smell to still be ever so present. One day I finished chopping garlic for my dinner, and after washing my hands, I wanted to prepare myself a fruit salad to go along with it. I love pineapples so naturally I included one in my fruit salad. To my amazement. After I was done peeling and cutting the pineapple. That garlic smell which usually takes about three days to wear completely off, was gone. So there it is folks my natural remedy for curing "garlic fingers". PINEAPPLE. WHO KNEW?

PS: You could always just wear gloves. (smile)

Pasta Ordeals!

2009-05-06T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

When I am not making my pasta from scratch, my favorite Pasta to cook with is Barilla! I swear by it. Everything I make with Barilla comes out perfect. I used to buy what ever pasta was the cheapest. But I wasted a lot of money doing that. If you could only see the many pastas I just chucked into the trash because they were horrible. Some of them even over boiled and fell a part after only being in the hot water for two minutes!!!!! Use Barilla. I promise you can't go wrong with it in any recipe.

This is my tip for the week.

Which Pasta is your favorite?

PS: NO. I do not get paid to say this. However it would be nice.

Moist Meat Balls!!!!!

2009-04-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

Hello Home Cooks!

I wanted to let you in on a little secret that you can use whenever you are cooking meatballs!

If you desire those moist meatballs that easily break open when you gently press them with your fork... the key is to add sliced crust less bread pre soaked in milk (I use white bread). When you add this soggy ingredient, it will "dry proof your meatballs" (2 slices per pound). Use this technique in place of the bread crumbs you were using before. My mother always says "why add dry ingredients to a meat that you are expecting to be moist". Also try to stay away from dried powder like Parmesan cheese. Instead, use fresh shredded Parmesan. This will release the natural oils within the cheese thus releasing moisture.

Never forget your egg. The egg is what will hold the meat together in whatever shape you bake/fry it in. Acting like a glue agent, the egg is what ensures the meat does not break a part in the sauce pot. If you leave out the egg, your meat balls and spaghetti meal would be turned into a meat sauce and spaghetti meal. Be careful the egg is very strong (too much glue can ruin a project). You do not need a lot of eggs... I would say to use 1 large egg (2 small/medium) per every 3-3 1/2 pounds of ground meat. But you must make sure you mix the meat consistently and evenly. If you add too much egg your meat balls will become firm and tough.

BY THE WAY! These tricks work for meatloaf and homemade hamburgers too!

Very Truly Yours,

Britnee Timberlake

A Helpful Article I Wrote...

2009-03-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

3 Real Secrets to Cooking!

Are you tired of not being able to cook anything without a cookbook being by your side? Are
you tired of your food just being known as “alright?” Do you feel bad when your children brag about their friend’s mother who can cook so great, but when your children are at home, they hardly touch the plate of food you prepared? Let me tell you about three secrets to cooking that are sure to solve your problems. These secrets are confidence, knowledge, and creativity.

The first secret to cooking is confidence: If you have a lack of confidence in the kitchen, it will show up in your food. Your children and significant other will be able to sense you were unsure of what you cooked. Just like men always say… "One of the sexiest things about a woman is when she has a high confidence level". It is the same in food. If you cook with low confidence, the less sexy your food is going to be. Ordinarily confidence in the kitchen is something that you will gain over a lot of time and practice. You must also have thick skin to develop the confidence you will need to be a great cook. The thick skin is needed for your practicing stages. You are guarantee a season of time where no one likes the food you are preparing. But keep reading and I will tell you how to conquer all of this in no time at all.
The next secret to cooking is knowledge: If you do not have the proper knowledge of seasonings, spices, cooking utensils, or even how to buy quality meats; then how do you expect to create consistently mouth watering meals? You must gain the knowledge of what is best paired with what? Once you do this, you will be able to step into conquering the next secret to cooking, which is creativity.
The final secret to cooking is creativity: Creativity is not just limited to paintings and art
work. In order to be successful in any skill, you must be creative. Cooking is an art of its own. Once you posses the courage to be creative, you will enable yourself to create your own recipes thus freeing yourself from what I call “cookbook bondage”. Cookbook bondage is when a person can not cook a thing with out a cookbook being by their side. With your new found confidence, knowledge, and courage for creativity, you will not be afraid to create and combine different seasonings and edible items to make up unique delectable dishes.
Once you combine the three secrets of a home cook, over a long period of time, you will
develop into a great cook.
Q: Why does it have to be such a long period of time before I develop into a great cook?
A: Because you have to do the research in order to learn about seasonings, utensils, meats, etc.
Q: Whoa Research! That's a scary word! Who has time for that?
A: Research is indeed tiring and time consuming. What if I told you I Britnee Timberlake the head chef for a very successful catering company, wrote three e-books courses just for you. These courses are packed with all the research and years of trial and error where you by yourself would take ages to conquer.
From these easy to read e-book courses you will gain confidence, knowledge, and the courage to
be creative when cooking. When you read and put to practice all three e-books, you will surely become a cooking phenom in no time!
Click on the link below to be re-directed to my site to view the valuable LIMITED TIME ONLY special offers. Wowing everyone with your cooking skills is just one click away! http://www.athomecookinginstitute.com/

Hello World

2009-03-30T05:30:00.000-07:00

I am so excited you are here! My name is Britnee Timberlake. I am a master home cook. I am here to teach you my skills, so you can become the same. What exactly is a "master home cook" you ask? A master home cook, is someone who could only have four seasonings and a random (fresh) meat or vegetable in their refrigerator, yet they can literally make something fabulous out of nothing. I will be posting informative articles, videos, and example recipes.

If you have any questions about cooking, please blog away! If you know the answer to someones question, feel free to reply. Lets be a help to one another acting as a cooking support group.

For more detailed information and cooking help go to... www.athomecookinginstitute.com to see what else I offer.