5 Things That Should Be in Your Kitchen

#2: Noilly Prat Vermouth

If you like to make Asian food, especially stir-fries, "sherry wine" is an ubiquitous ingredient in many cookbooks. The problem is that most people likely don't have sherry, and since it seems like a lot of trouble for something you drizzle around the sides of the wok when the dish is almost done, I think most of us just leave it out. I know I used to.

But once you do use sherry, the difference sans sherry is glaring, and you can't go back.

Don't buy expensive sherry. Since you're cooking with it, the alcohol boils off and the remaining essence mixes with the food. Thus 'quality' sherry is not required.

Instead, $7 will get you a bottle of Noilly Prat that could last you a decade. Vermouth is just sherry with more sugar, and gives dishes the same flavor.

Try Noilly Prat in Chinese meatloaf, or in a regular stir-fry. Only a half-capful needs to be added, as noted just drizzle it around the sides of the wok at the end, just before you combine all the ingredients. You won't be sorry.

5 Things That Should Be in Your Kitchen

#1: Toasted Flour


You know those times when you're trying to make a soup, gravy or sauce, and it turns out too thin? It's too late for the corn starch, a trick that works best before you add the water. Sure, you could try to mix some corn starch with a TINY bit of water, but there is a very high probability of a lump of unblended corn starch staring back at you from the pan. No one wants that.

Toasted flour is what you want in such situations, a teaspoon or two blends nicely into just about any hot liquid. Here's how to do it.

Tools:
A wok. I prefer the round-bottom kind.
A metal spatula, business end curved to match the curve of the wok

Ingredients:
White or unbleached flour

Procedure:

• Heat wok to almost-high.
• Put a quarter- to a third-cup of flour in the wok bottom. Sift through a wire strainer to remove lumps.
• After 30-45 seconds start scraping/stirring flour at 10-20 second intervals. Make sure you scrape/stir the flour off the bottom of the wok.
• Adjust heat as flour heats up; do not let it brown too fast or it will burn. Watch the edges of the pile of flour for browning.
  
• After a few minutes the flour will start to darken. Now scrape/stir continually.
• Flour is done when medium-golden. Dump it into a bowl and toast another batch.

After you think you have enough, let the flour cool. Store in an airtight container.

A word about Wondra. It is flour product that dissolves fast even if the liquid is cold; this is achieved by removing most of the protein and adding gelatin and some malted barley flour. This is all well and good, but I never need to thicken anything cold, and toasted flour achieves the same thing with ordinary flour. So if you have flour already, why spend another three bucks on Wondra?

The best use I've found for toasted flour is that it speeds up the creation of mac & cheese. No more trying to brown the flour-butter mixture for umpteen minutes! Just melt the butter, throw in some toasted flour, blend, and proceed with the cheesy goodness as you normally would.