Interesting Ways To Use Croutons

Croutons are probably most recognized as a garnish on a Caesar salad. Indeed, grocery stores often merchandise croutons with fresh produce, and crouton brands feature beautiful food photography of salad on their packaging. But there are other interesting culinary uses for croutons. Food and Wine magazine featured a few, including croutons stirred into scrambled eggs, which eliminate the need for toast, and crumbled and used like bread crumbs to encrust a fish or chicken dish. Flavored croutons can also be eaten right out of the bag as a snack. Our chefs love how versatile croutons are, particularly with soups. They could be used as a garnish instead of crackers, as a replacement for the crusty toast topping in French onion soup, or as a thickening agent for a chowder.

There are also a variety of bread types and seasonings used on croutons available in the market today, which can contribute flavor and texture to many dishes. Some of the bread types used in retail include pretzel bread, glutenfree grain, sprouted ancient grain, and corn bread. There are also a wide range of seasonings including aged cheeses, onions and peppers, ranch, garlic and herbs, and honey butter.

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Stocks, The Base For Great Recipes

Stocks and sauces play an important role in the culinary world. Stocks are the perfect kitchen companion as they are easy to prepare and utilize scraps that would otherwise be wasted. The ability to create delicious stocks will be your ticket to deep rich flavor. Sauces are the decadent derivative of stocks. They are concentrated in flavor, add richness, smoothness, and enhance any dish.

Stock or bouillon in French is the plain unclarified broth obtained from simmering meat and vegetables in water. It is used instead of plain water for cooking certain dishes, and for making soups and sauces. For a versatile stock, the basics are water, bones, meat/fish trimmings (for meat and fish stocks), celery, onion, carrot and a bouquet garni, such as parsley stalks, a bay leaf or thyme sprigs (all three tied in a bundle or placed in cheesecloth), plus a few peppercorns and maybe a few leek leaves. No salt though. Stock isn’t salted, to avoid over-seasoning your finished dish. There are four main types of stock: vegetable, chicken, meat (beef, veal, pork, lamb) and fish. While you can usually substitute one for another with no real effect, it’s usually best to stick with the stock that goes with what you’re cooking. If you’re making a chicken dish, use chicken stock instead of beef, although vegetable stock is a good substitute, and may also add a nice layer of flavor to your recipe.

Meat stocks can take a few hours, so larger batches are wise. Since stocks are made using leftovers or scraps – parts that might otherwise be thrown away- save bones and trimmings in the freezer. You can start making your stock once you’ve collected enough. Although, you can always buy bones cheaply from the local butcher if time is of the essence. A good rule of thumb is to have about one part solid ingredients to one part water.

• Chop vegetables into large uniform chunks – too small and the long cooking time will cause them to disintegrate. Don’t use starchy vegetables such as potatoes as these will make the stock cloudy, or vegetables that are too green as these can color the stock.
• Place chicken carcasses/bones into a large pot and top with cold water. Heat to a gentle simmer and skim off any scum that rises up (Dépouiller). The scum is coagulated protein, held together by fat. While it won’t hurt you, it won’t taste good so it’s best to remove it. Top off with cold water if needed.
• Add vegetables and a bouquet garni. Bring to a simmer again but do not let the stock boil vigorously. Regulate the heat so that a few bubbles rise to the surface. Skim regularly and keep the ingredients covered by topping off with cold water. Cook uncovered for 3-4 hours.
• Strain the stock, pour into a clean pot and boil to reduce and intensify the flavor. Use your judgment and taste buds to determine how far to reduce. Stock can be frozen. Just pour into freezer bags or ice cube trays.

With meat stock you’ll want it dark and rich, so roast your meat/beef bones and vegetables for about 45 minutes in a 400- 450 degree F oven before adding them to your stockpot and adding water. If you skip this step, your stock will have a lighter color and flavor. Now start saving your scraps and get cooking. Enjoy the process!

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Cold Soups: Turn Down Heat and Turn Up The Flavor

Cold soup is a favorite as a refreshing alternative to warm, hearty soups. These recipes/dishes tend to be chock full of fresh fruits, herbs, and vegetables from honeydew to cucumber and mint to zesty gazpacho. No doubt cold soups offer their own uniquely “slurpable” flavors.

For cold soup newcomers, one favorite Spanish recipe gazpacho is the ultimate chilled soup for many. Made with the ripest tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, this vegetarian classic soup is thickened with stale bread or bread crumbs/croutons and brightened up with garlic and sherry vinegar. Other favorite classic cold soups are vichyssoise, borscht, yogurt cucumber & dill, and carrot ginger. Soups, either hot or cold are great platforms for your creative side to shine. They can be jazzed up with seasoning blends, like Ras el Hanout, or Chinese five spice, to name just a few, and don’t forget about the wide variety of fresh herbs that will complement your creation.

Smoothies and smoothie bowls have been all the rage the past few years. For a Smoothie bowl, you can create pretty much any combo of flavors and then top it with your favorite fruits or crunchies like cereal and nuts. This means it’s more satisfying than a regular smoothie. You eat it with a spoon, like cold soup. This made us think, how about using some of our cold soups as a base for a smoothie or smoothie bowl. After trial and error with various soup blends, we ended up with a few tasty treats. Using these soup blends, such as carrot ginger, not only gave us great looking and tasty smoothies, but also a nice nutritional boost.

So for a change of pace, take the chance and mix some fruit and veggies together. Please see our featured recipes for some inspiration. Enjoy!

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SOUP!

When summer comes to an end and the days get cooler, there’s no better way to warm up than with a delicious bowl of soup! Soup dates back to the 18th century. A large amount could be made on the cheap and could feed a lot of people. Historically, soup was used as a test of character. If you were a good person, you shared your soup. If you didn’t share your warm, brothy meal, you were considered selfish.

There are three main types of soups: clear or brothy, creamy or thick, and cold. All soups begin with stock or broth. Clear soups can contain vegetables, meat and beans. Cream soups start off the same as a clear soup but also include cream or a thickening agent such as a roux. Some examples of creamy or thick soups are bisque, gumbo and stew. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be cold outside to enjoy soup. Cold soups are also delicious and refreshing to eat. They can be savory or sweet and even eaten as dessert!

Each region of the world has their own types of soup. In New England, clam chowder defines the region. French Onion was created in France, of course, but has gained momentum all over the world. The Chinese use chicken broth based soup, adding deliciously filled wontons. And finally, thanks to the Spanish, gazpacho is one of the most popular cold soups enjoyed today.

Soup is one of the most convenient meals available. It’s easy to find canned soups that are microwave ready, dry mixes and even packaged as a drink for eating on the go. Don’t be shy stocking up on good old fashioned chicken soup as it has healing and soothing properties when you are sick.

So the next time you experience a writer’s block type of feeling when trying to plan dinner, try your hand at whipping up a pot of soup. It’s easy, fun and nearly fool proof.

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Visual Guide To Stuffing Sausage

Here are some step by step instructions on how to prep, fill, and cook your first sausage.  A visual guide is always easier to follow, so we hope this better illustrates the process.

1. Soak your casings

2. Prep your ingredients

3. Coarse grind your meat (first pass)

4. It should have an even look to it when done. Add your cure, and mix in

5. Remove fat from pork belly and grind only fat into your meat.

6. Mix fat into meat. You want about a 75% meat to 25% fat ratio.

7. Add seasoning and water to your mixture and hand mix everything together. Load your soaked casings onto the meat stuffer attachment and place your mixture a little at a time into the tray on top.

8. Slowly push the meat mixture down with a plunger and let it fill the casings. Twist off to form links at desired length. If a finer texture is desired, push through a smaller plate.

9. Cook links to 156°F internal temperature and a nice reddish brown color. Cool down, reheat on a grill for the best flavor.

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Test Your Sausage With Newly Weds Foods

Developing the perfect sausage can be an exciting and fun journey as seasonings, binders, casings, and meat choices come together as one. Here at Newly Weds Foods, we hold ourselves to a culinary gold standard in helping our customers create products that balance taste with texture, bite, and value. We also have a deep understanding of the manufacturing process and operate several pilot plants at select Newly Weds Foods locations around the world, which house processing equipment consistent with what our customers use. This enables us to translate a winning chef driven recipe to a formula that works on a large scale processing line.

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Fun Facts About British Bangers

• Sausages are thought to have been first introduced to Great Britain by the Romans circa 400 A.D.
• Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1876, was very fond of sausages but made the tedious request that the meat used be hand chopped rather than minced.
• There is a society in England dedicated entirely to sausages – the British Sausage Appreciation Society, which hosts British Sausage Week every year!
• The most popular sausages in the UK are made with pork. Some popular varieties include Cumberland (which are never separated into links), Lincolnshire (flavored with fresh sage), Pork and Apple, Pork and Leek, and Pork and Herb.
• In the year 2014, Britons spent an estimated 780 million British Pounds, or just over 1.1 billion US dollars, on sausages alone!

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The Science of Sausage

While most good sausage makers and “Wurstmachers” are referred to as artisans, there is just as much science in making good sausage as there is art, and they know this. While crafting 5 or 10 pounds for a backyard BBQ may be a lot of fun, how can that product be manufactured to those same quality standards on a much larger scale?

The first key consideration is fat. It carries flavor and provides an entirely different texture and juiciness than the meat itself. The percentage of fat used is based on the type of sausage made, but typically ranges from 24% to 42%. The next consideration is the handling of the meat. The use of fresh meat is preferred over frozen meat because thawed meat tends to release a lot of moisture and lead to an overly dry and firm sausage. The meat should not be overmixed as that breaks down fat and leads to an unpleasant texture. Finally, meat temperature must be controlled in storage and in processing to meat food safety and quality standards. Too much heat can lead to bacterial growth and unwanted melting of fat. Finally, salt is essential. It opens up the muscle fibers in the meat to want and accept fat, water, seasoning, and other ingredients as well as envelop them to get the full impact in every bite. Salt also enables the fat to blend perfectly with the meat, which gives sausage that great snap people enjoy.

Two additives often found in manufactured sausages are antioxidants and high pH additives, which help to maintain the integrity of the sausages. Antioxidants such as BHA, BHT, citric acid, and more natural compounds such as rosemary extract, prevent the fat from going rancid. High pH additives such as phosphates and sodium bicarbonate help to improve moisture retention keeping sausages juicy and delicious.

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Rusk

Rusk is a kind of biscuit or light bread dough baked twice until it is hard. One key use for rusk is as the cereal ingredient utilized in manufacturing ground meat products especially the great British “banger” sausage. Rusk’s unique characteristics impart the yielding texture and subtle flavor profiles expected of this British staple. There are two types of rusk: yeastless and bread rusk, though the former is more widely used with about 80% market share.

Rusk used in sausage production started in southwest Britain in the 1920’s. Until that point, sausages were often made with stale bread crumbs obtained from the local baker. However, stale bread, though cheap, did have its shortcomings. The variability of the bread led to differences in water absorption as well as uncontrolled bacterial count, leading to accelerated sausage souring and problems with color and shelf life. Rusk solved the issues through its manufacturing process, with its consistency delivering predictable outcomes. It greatly contributes to a desirable finished product texture (without being too meaty or mealy), extended shelf life, an enhanced appearance and overall value.

The Big Bang Theory

Despite the recent surge in popularity, nose to tail eating has actually been around for a long time. The phrase “everything except the squeal” was coined many years earlier at a time when two world wars and the Depression drove consumers to grapple with limited resources.

There are stories of very unscrupulous butchers using sawdust and other nefarious materials from the floors of their shops to “pad out” the meat and make what little there was go even further. More commonly however, butchers would use whatever regional grains were in abundance and a considerable amount of water to extend the product.

Sausages that were made in this way had a tendency to pop when cooked. During World War II British soldiers would put them on shovels over an open fire, and the bursting of their casing in the trenches of northern Europe were rumored to sound like cracks of gunfire. Thus, the British “banger” was born. While this tale may be more fiction than fact, it highlights one unique aspect that defines the banger, although maybe slightly exaggerated.

Once refined, rusk became an essential part of sausage processing. It not only eliminated the exploding sausage by controlling the moisture and fat migration but also helped deliver a more rounded and desirable flavor and texture.

The rusk element doesn’t technically have a protected status, but a sausage without a certain amount of “filler” is not a British banger. Heston Blumenthal seems to agree. In his book and TV show “In Search of Perfection,” Blumenthal sets out to create the perfect banger. At first he hypothesized that a perfect banger would have very high meat content mixed with some seasonings, essentially being a filler-less sausage. However, the initial result was missing the right snap and was strangely “too meaty.” Blumenthal eventually concedes and acknowledges the necessity and importance of incorporating fillers for the perfect banger.

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