Alternatives Archives - Chefs Tricks

‘No dessert until you eat your cricket’: Insects set to enter menus after EU ruling

Alternatives, Business, Ingredients, Odds & ends

Ramen noodle topped with fried worms and crickets in a Tokyo restaurant. © Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters Insect-based snacks could soon swarm the European market after new regulations came into force this month – bringing creepy crawly menus one step closer to reality. It’s estimated that at least 2 billion people on the planet currently …

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Waterless Woks

Alternatives, Business, Science

A water utility says Asian restaurants in one big city could collectively save millions of dollars by upgrading their cooking facilities. With increasing populations and dwindling supplies of potable water in many parts of the world, many advances have been made – water-saving toilets, showers and washing machines, low-flow faucets and waterless urinals. But one …

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Food truck forefathers

Alternatives, Business, Interviews

When the food truck forefathers — tias and tios peddling warm antojitos; halal meat vendors nourishing the bellies of nocturnal drivers; the breakfast, hot dog, pretzel and nuts pushcart operators indulging tourists and on-the-go urbanites — set up shop each day, they aren’t exactly sourcing gourmet ingredients like white truffles, fumikake and aged cheddar. Same …

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Wild-caught salmon that isn’t

Alternatives, Fish, Shopping

Much of the salmon labelled as “wild caught” is actually farm-raised, a report found. Credit Andrew Sullivan for The New York Times The wild-caught salmon sold by restaurants and fishmongers is frequently farm-raised fish that has been mislabelled, said a report released Wednesday. Using DNA analysis, the nonprofit ocean conservation group Oceana studied 82 samples and found …

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Seed oils – The danger

Alternatives, Health, Ingredients, Interviews, Oil

Before you tuck into that plate of deep friend deliciousness David Gillespie wants you to think about what seed oils are doing to your body. David Gillespienews.com.au Email a friend VEGETABLE oils are highly unstable. When they interact with oxygen, they release neurotoxic, DNA mutating chemicals which are known to cause cancer (at least). Recent …

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WE SHOULD have known the revolution would start with a burger

Alternatives, Substitutes

A Quest for an All-American Burger… Without Meat Tristan Lutze news.com.au WE SHOULD have known the revolution would start with a burger. In an effort to fight the growing impact of our diets on the environment, a company called ‘Impossible Foods’ has set out to do the impossible: create a meat-free burger so delicious, so juicy, …

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Vinegars

Alternatives, Ingredients, Shopping, Vinegar

Cooks use vinegar to make pickles, deglaze pans, marinate meats, and add tang to vinaigrettes, sauces, and even desserts. Vinegars are made by adding a bacteria called Acetobacter aceti to diluted wine, ale, or fermented fruits or grains. This creates acetic acid, which gives the liquid a sour flavor. Unopened, most vinegars will last for …

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Whipped Cream

Alternatives, Cream, Substitutes

Easily make whipped cream without a stand mixer by shaking it in a Mason jar.

Make a tart without a tart pan

Alternatives, Baking - General

Out of a crucial ingredient? Follow this chart for substitutions

Alternatives, Substitutes

Make DIY sprinkles with just a few ingredients

Alternatives, Baking - General, Decoration

1. Have you seen the ingredients in commercial sprinkles? Carnauba wax? Cellulose gum? Trust me, there is truly no comparison between something artificial and commercially produced versus something – anything – homemade. 2. You can customize the color to match your party theme, school colors, or a child’s favorite shade. How cool is that? 3. You can flavor …

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Save your burnt cookies or muffins

Alternatives, Baking - General, Mistakes, Substitutes

Just lightly grate the charred bottoms off of them and they’re basically perfect. You can also use a box grater to grate frozen butter for delicious pie crusts and pastries.

Swap avocado for butter

Alternatives, Baking - General, Dairy, Ingredients

Make your own gluten-free flour

Alternatives, Baking - General, Ingredients

Homemade Gluten-Free Oat Flour Makes approximately 2 1/2 cups of flour. 3 cups of gluten-free oats, old-fashioned or quick cooking is fine. Put all of the oats in a blender and blend until smooth like flour. Scraping the sides down every minute or so. This should take 5-6 minutes to achieve desired consistency. Store in an airtight container for …

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Make your own brown sugar

Alternatives, Ingredients, Sugar

Just put a cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of molasses together and mix well. You can do it in the mini processor or you can have at it with a spoon. Either way it’s very satisfying. The sugar will fluff up in the processor, but it will still be equivalent to 1 cup, be …

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Make Citrus Powder

Alternatives, Citrus, Ingredients, Making

I love unusual ingredients and ALL citrus fruits, so when I came across a few mentions of citrus powder on the internet, I knew I had to try to make some. In addition to a few meyer lemons that a co-worker gave me, I added kumquats, tangerines, valencia oranges, key limes, blood oranges, and grapefruits …

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Chicken from Peas

Alternatives, Chicken

Chris Skelton/Fairfax NZ Shama Lee, chief executive of Sunfed Meats, the Auckland-based company developing ‘meat analogues’ from vegetable proteins. It looks like chicken and it tastes like chicken, but the “meat” in this stir-fry comes from Canadian yellow peas – and it could be in supermarket butchery aisles by July. Auckland businesswoman Shama Lee wants …

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Peugeot reimagines the food truck

Alternatives, Business, Odds & ends, Serving

Looks great but might not work so well in the real world. Nice to see someone trying to realise a vision instead of the usual box on wheels. Without further ado, I present : In 1874 – eight years before the company built anything with wheels – Peugeot made its first pepper mill. These mills, which …

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Asparagus Mousse

Alternatives, Techniques, Vegetables

“Can you make me an asparagus mousse?” Raymond asked me one lunchtime. I made the mousse and sent it through to his table in the dining room. I was smoking a Marlboro outside when Raymond suddenly came dashing through the kitchen’s back doorway, full of excitement. “The mousse,” he said to me, “it’s spectacular. How …

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‘Magic Dust’ will spice up any dish

Alternatives, Flavouring, Spices

Who couldn’t use a little magic in the kitchen? Sometimes by the time dinner rolls around, I’m completely uninspired. I stare at a pot of steamed broccoli and sigh. Spices are a surefire way to add diversity and interest to everyday dishes. Local spice shops have lots of blends made from high-quality spices that can …

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