Buy Meal.com - Guide to Good Food

Take Up Smoking - Your Food Will Love It

Email 50 Million Daily - FREE!

Newsflash: there is a world beyond olive oil.

Look, I like olive oil as much as the next person and I use it extensively in my cooking. However there are alternatives and there are very good reasons for using some of them. But let's just stay with olive oil for a second or two longer.

How often have you seen this statement in a recipe; "use the best olive oil you can afford."

Well I'm here to tell you that is nonsense. The quality of olive oil is not determined by its price, nor by its fancy packaging. It's determined by its flavor and what you propose using it for.

For example, while extra virgin olive oil is perfect for salads, there is absolutely no point in using it for high temperature cooking. When heated beyond a certain point it loses its flavor and most of its characteristics, although not its nutritional value. You might just as well use the home brand oil of the store you're shopping in.

What's more, the store's own brand of extra virgin olive oil will be every bit as good as those costing many dollars more. I never buy anything else, and I have yet to come across anyone who can tell the difference. Just don't let them see the bottle.

Adding flavor

I mentioned before that with high temperature cooking, such as frying, olive oil quickly loses its flavor. Fortunately, all fats are not the same and the best way to overcome this problem is to mix the olive oil with something else.

You could use sesame oil for example, or add a knob of butter which will not burn because, although the oil reaches its smoking point at a higher temperature than animal fats, the overall cooking temperature will be reduced by the butter.

This is not always a disadvantage and I frequently use butter instead of oil for much of the cooking I do. However I use clarified butter, or "Ghee", which is simply the Asian form of clarified butter and is usually sold in tins.

Clarified butter is butter with the milk solids removed so that it can be heated to a high temperature without burning. It's also much better for you than the full fat alternative.

You can make it yourself simply by bringing ordinary butter to the boil, skimming off the solids which rise to the surface and then filtering the remainder. But for the life of me I cannot imagine why you would want to do that when you can buy a tin of it that will just about last for ever if kept in the fridge.

The great thing about using Ghee is that it retains its flavor no matter what temperature you cook it at without overpowering the rest of the ingredients.

Dangerous liaisons

Despite what the recipes may tell you, olive oil is worse than useless when used in egg liaison sauces. It makes them taste bitter.

For things like mayonnaise and hollandaise sauce, I invariably use grape seed oil. I find this has a light, clean finish and produces perfect results every time. Corn oil and canola, which is called rape-seed oil in Britain, tend to be rather too oily and I also find them very bland.

As a matter of fact, I never cook with either of them. Even my deep fat frying is done with olive oil. Which brings me to another point.

Fats and oils in cooking are mainly used for either deep or shallow frying. In both cases the food that results, with just a few exceptions such as omelets, should be crisp and fat free. The main reason this doesn't happen is because the fat was not able to get hot enough before the food was added.

Don't let this happen to you. Heat your frying pan until it begins to smoke. Then remove it from the heat for a minute before adding food. Do the same with your wok, and make sure that your deep fat fryer has reached full temperature before you even think about adding the tiniest morsel.

If you have any trouble judging the correct temperature, drop a small scrap of fresh bread into the fat and see what it does. It should sizzle immediately and crisp up in a couple of seconds.

Remember that all fats are not the same. Refined oils such as sunflower, peanut and corn are best for frying because they reach a smoke point of 450°F, while olive oil – which is what I use for general cooking – comes in at 410°F.

To give you some idea of the difference in cooking temperatures, ordinary butter has a smoke point of around 300°F.

One more point. Don't try to cook too much food at once. If you do, you will find that the temperature will drop rapidly, the food will shed water and instead of frying your chicken or whatever, you will stew it.

Better by far to cook small amounts at a time, allowing the oil to reheat between each batch. Do this, and you will avoid the limp vegetables and soggy chips (French fries) that bedevil so many home cooks.

Michael Sheridan is a head chef and published author on cooking matters. This article is one of a series which may be obtained free from his website at http://thecoolcook.com

Email 50 Million Daily - FREE!

MORE ARTICLES:

MyNorth.com Gives Foodies Recipes, Restaurants, Wineries and Food Finds From Northern Michigan
Traverse, Northern Michigan's Magazine today launched its new website, MyNorth.com, giving food and wine lovers access to the magazine's rich, in-depth coverage of Northern Michigan culinary culture and foodie news. MyNorth.com readers can access recipes, restaurant listings and food and wine features from the archives of Traverse plus stories written specifically for MyNorth.com. The site provides access to the popular dining guide with information on restaurants Up North, including Traverse City, Petoskey, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Mackinac, Cadillac, Interlochen, Gaylord, Leland, Suttons Bay, Boyne City, Frankfort, Harbor Springs and more.

New Ice Scoop Ensures Safe Handling, Food Safety at Restaurants and Bars
The new San Jamar Saf-T-Scoop? & Guardian System ensures safe ice handling at restaurants and bars. Food safety in the food service industry is a legitimate concern, as a recent study found more than one out of every five samples of ice contains high levels of bacteria.

Food Poisoning in Fast Food Restaurants
With the advent of fast food chains, and the ever-increasing pace of our lifestyle, it has actually been very much convenient to order food to go on any fast food establishments.

Eat Good Immune System Foods To Prevent Sickness
The immune system is probably one of the most important systems of the human body It is what keeps us from getting sick

Toronto Restaurants Famed for Best Food Styling
Toronto is a place famous for its unique food styles and eminent eating out places. One can take the utmost delight in trying out its popular cuisines namely Italian, Chinese and Greek cuisines. For one thing you would not have to take any pains or put in extra effort looking out for the food you are interested in. Besides this, here you will not have people telling you the must try delicacies, as one can easily plan out and enjoy ones own little food hunt. While on a trip to Toronto there are certain places you should not miss out on. Toronto restaurants are known for their ambience, tranquility and their own different styling of food. To start with, Pangaea restaurant on the famous Bay Street is a must visit place, beautifully struc...

Organic Food Recipes And Your Eating And Dietary Lifestyles
Although some people would like to go organic and lead a healthier lifestyle, they find themselves stopped by a few things. Among these little stumbling blocks in their paths to going organic, are things like the cost of organic foods, the ready unavailability of organic foods, as well as the little fact that they will also need to find organic food recipes to go with their new lifestyle.

Sisters Launch Gourmet Food Sister-Stores Focusing on Good Food and Good Health
Two sisters make a mid life career change to be gourmet food retailers. Knowing that Americans today face challenges of weight loss, heart disease and other obstacles affected by diet, they have doubled their endeavors and opened two stores instead of one. I Fancy Food at http://www.ifancyfood.com is their 'anything goes' store, featuring uncommon, artisan and international foods. I Fancy Food is online as well as local, as a newly opened store in Jonesborough, TN. Their lighter side is the online-only 'Fresh Approach Diet Store', at ...

Healthy Cooking Does Not Mean Eating Bland And Boring Food
Eating healthy should always be a priority. Healthy eating can be accomplished by simply changing eating habits and changing the methods you use to cook. There is no need to cook bland or boring dishes, many options are available. Understanding the flavors your dishes use means eating well and feeling well.

Restaurants And Food Allergies...a Problem?
Why don?t restaurants know what ingredients are in their food?

Campfire Cooking Recipes - 4 Great Camping Dishes Using Traditional Campfire Cooking Recipes
There is nothing like the fresh air and exercise that you get on a hiking or camping trip, to work up a really big appetite. But you don?t want to spend ages preparing and cooking complicated meals, which turns it into a chore.

Best Ingredients for All Natural Dog Foods Using This Simple Homemade Dog Food Recipe
Making your own homemade dog food with this recipe is easy and will give your dog the best all natural dog foods available. Just remember that in the wild your dog would catch small prey and eat the whole thing. This consisted of the meat, bones, organs, even the heart, brain and eyes (which are high in taurine). The vegetables they would get were in the stomach and digestive tract of the animals already partially digested. If you make your all natural dog foods to imitate your dogs prey hey will enjoy optimum health and love you for it.

Ambrosia Restaurant Wins Best Chef/Restaurant in 14th Annual Best of OC Guide
The world-class Ambrosia Restaurant and Executive Chef Michael Rossi have been selected as the Best Chef/Restaurant for Santa Ana in the 14th Annual Best of Orange County guide.

More Fast Food Restaurants Are Using Security Camera Systems To Protect Their Business
Often, a thief or a robber would like to attack a place, which is easier to be looted easily. Because, even these evils also know that most of the places now are covered with round the clock surveillance through security cameras. Moreover, they would not want to select a location, where they are likely to face difficulties in running when the police alarm goes on. Therefore, these thieves are contemplating new options and ideas to accomplish their evil task.

BigHoller Inaugurates Online Ordering Restaurant Dining Guide - I Must Eat
With a robust directory of over 600,000 restaurant listings and the ability to contour search results by details -- including geographical area, cuisine and whether the restaurant accepts online orders and online reservations -- I Must Eat (www.IMustEat.com) offers something for everyone looking to discover new meal experiences, while simplifying the search and order process.