Ey ey ey ey ey ey
<Roberto>
Friday, August 27, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Cracker Jack
In 1871 a German immigrant named F.W. Rueckheim came to Chicago with $200 in his pocket. He used all of his money to open a small popcorn shop in the city and started selling a sweet caramel-and-molasses-coated popcorn confection. Rueckheim's big break came in 1893, when the treat was served at Chicago's first world's fair. From then on the popcorn's popularity grew enormously. In 1896 a salesman tasting the treat for the first time said, "That's a cracker jack," and the name stuck. Shortly after Cracker Jack's debut another customer commented, "The more you eat, the more you want," and that's still the slogan today.
In 1912, the Cracker Jack Company started adding toy suprises ranging from small books to metal toy trains. They have sold billions of prizes since then. In 1962 Borden, Inc. bought the Cracker Jack Company, and today the Cracker Jack division is the largest user of popcorn in the world, popping more than twenty tons of corn a day. It is now owned by Frito-Lay.
4 Quarts popped popcorn (or 1 1/3 bags microwave popcorn)
1 cup Spanish peanuts
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees fahrenheit (121 degrees celsius).
2. Combine the popcorn and peanuts on a cookie sheet and place in the preheated oven.
3. Combine all of the remaining ingredients in a saucepan.
4. Stirring over medium heat bring the mixture to a boil.
5. Using a cooking thermometer, bring the mixture to the hard-crack stage (290 degrees fahrenheit (143 degrees celsius) or the point at which the syrup, when dripped into cold water, forms a hard but pliable ball). This will take about 20 to 25 minutes (or until you notice the mixture turning a slightly darker brown).
6. Remove the popcorn and peanuts from the oven and, working quickly, pour the caramel mixture in a fine stream over them. Then place them back in the oven for 10 minutes.
7. Mix well every 5 minutes so that all of the popcorn is coated.
8. Cool and store in a covered container to preserve freshness.
Makes 4 Quarts
In 1912, the Cracker Jack Company started adding toy suprises ranging from small books to metal toy trains. They have sold billions of prizes since then. In 1962 Borden, Inc. bought the Cracker Jack Company, and today the Cracker Jack division is the largest user of popcorn in the world, popping more than twenty tons of corn a day. It is now owned by Frito-Lay.
1 cup Spanish peanuts
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees fahrenheit (121 degrees celsius).
2. Combine the popcorn and peanuts on a cookie sheet and place in the preheated oven.
3. Combine all of the remaining ingredients in a saucepan.
4. Stirring over medium heat bring the mixture to a boil.
5. Using a cooking thermometer, bring the mixture to the hard-crack stage (290 degrees fahrenheit (143 degrees celsius) or the point at which the syrup, when dripped into cold water, forms a hard but pliable ball). This will take about 20 to 25 minutes (or until you notice the mixture turning a slightly darker brown).
6. Remove the popcorn and peanuts from the oven and, working quickly, pour the caramel mixture in a fine stream over them. Then place them back in the oven for 10 minutes.
7. Mix well every 5 minutes so that all of the popcorn is coated.
8. Cool and store in a covered container to preserve freshness.
Makes 4 Quarts
Friday, August 13, 2010
Ben & Jerry's Heath Bar Crunch Ice Cream
When Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield first met in their seventh-grade gym class, they quickly became good friends. After college, the two decided they wanted to try their hand at selling ice cream. With $12,000 to invest, they moved from New York to Burlington, Vermont, where they purchased an abandoned gas station as the first location for their ice cream store.
After passing a five-dollar correspondence course on ice cream making from Pennsylvania State University and spending their life savings on renovating the gas station, the two were oficially in the ice cream business. Ben and Jerry opened the doors to their first ice cream parlor in 1978. The pair's ice cream was such a big hit that they soon moved to a much larger facility. Today they are sold in stores worldwide.
Heath Bar Crunch was one of the earliest flavors on the menu and is still the most popular of the thirty original chunky ice cream creations that made them famous.
5 Heath candy bars
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1. Freeze the candy bars.
2. Beat the eggs by hand until fluffy.
3. Slowly beat in the sugar.
4. Add the cream, half-and-half, and vanilla and mix well.
5. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze.
6. While the ice cream is freezing, place the frozen candy in a plastic bag and break them into small pieces with a knife handle.
7. When the ice cream is done, remove it from the ice cream maker and add the candy pieces. Mix well with a large spoon and store in the freezer.
MAKES 1 QUART
After passing a five-dollar correspondence course on ice cream making from Pennsylvania State University and spending their life savings on renovating the gas station, the two were oficially in the ice cream business. Ben and Jerry opened the doors to their first ice cream parlor in 1978. The pair's ice cream was such a big hit that they soon moved to a much larger facility. Today they are sold in stores worldwide.
Heath Bar Crunch was one of the earliest flavors on the menu and is still the most popular of the thirty original chunky ice cream creations that made them famous.
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1. Freeze the candy bars.
2. Beat the eggs by hand until fluffy.
3. Slowly beat in the sugar.
4. Add the cream, half-and-half, and vanilla and mix well.
5. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze.
6. While the ice cream is freezing, place the frozen candy in a plastic bag and break them into small pieces with a knife handle.
7. When the ice cream is done, remove it from the ice cream maker and add the candy pieces. Mix well with a large spoon and store in the freezer.
MAKES 1 QUART
Tidbits
The real secret to Ben & Jerry's ice cream is its consistency. It is a thick and creamy ice cream developed with special equipment that keeps a great deal of air out of the mixture. The less air in the ice cream, the thicker the consistency. Therefore, you may find the above recipe fills your ice cream maker a little more than other ice cream recipes.
It's also important to get the right consistency of Heath bar chunks. Most of the candy bar should be crushed into crumbs, but stop breaking the candy when there are still several 1- and 1/2 inch chunks remaining.
I hope you enjoy experimenting with this recipe and that you try substituting other ingredients for the Heath bar chunks, just as Ben and Jerry have. Try Reese's, Oreos, Kit Kats, Rolos, M&Ms, and cookie dough.
Aunt Jemima Maple Syrup
The year 1989 marked the 100th anniversary of the Aunt Jemima trademark. The name was concieved in 1889 by Chris Rutt while he was attending a vaudeville show and watching a New Orleans-style dance number performed to a jazzy tune called "Aunt Jemima." Rutt liked the music so much he stuck the name on his products. The maple syrup came along much later, in 1964, and is now the country's largest-selling syrup.
Today some folks tell the story of how their friends or relatives once met Aunt Jemima many years ago and how she was a kind and cordial woman. Little do they realize that these people were fooled by a promotional campaign for the products back in the forties and fifties that used actresses traveling from town to town dressed up and acting like the "famous woman." There never really was an Aunt Jemima.
2 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups dark corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
1. Combine the first four ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir occasionally, until the mixture comes to a full boil. Let it boil for 7 minutes.
3. Turn the heat off and let the syrup cool for 15 minutes.
4. Add the maple flavoring and stir.
5. When completely cool, transfer the syrup to a covered plastic or glass container.
Today some folks tell the story of how their friends or relatives once met Aunt Jemima many years ago and how she was a kind and cordial woman. Little do they realize that these people were fooled by a promotional campaign for the products back in the forties and fifties that used actresses traveling from town to town dressed up and acting like the "famous woman." There never really was an Aunt Jemima.
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups dark corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
1. Combine the first four ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir occasionally, until the mixture comes to a full boil. Let it boil for 7 minutes.
3. Turn the heat off and let the syrup cool for 15 minutes.
4. Add the maple flavoring and stir.
5. When completely cool, transfer the syrup to a covered plastic or glass container.
Tidbits
For Syrup with a butter flavor, just add 3 tablespoons of butter to the mixture before heating.
For a lighter syrup, use a sugar substitute instead of the granulated sugar.
The absence of natural maple syrup in this recipe is not unusual. In fact, there is no real maple syrup in any Aunt Jemima syrups.
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