basics Archives

How to Make Chicken Stock

November 17, 2015

For the next three days, I will be posting one “basics” recipe per day in preparation for Thanksgiving. These are my favorite recipes to make ahead, freeze and have on hand as the holiday season approaches. Today we are starting with one of my favorite, indispensable freezer staples: chicken stock. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, having a batch of homemade chicken stock ready to use will make life that much easier when it’s time to get cooking. And the day after Thanksgiving, put the bones of that big turkey to good use and replenish your freezer with homemade turkey stock. Win-win! […]

How to Make Béchamel Sauce

November 6, 2015

During the next few months, I’m planning on posting several recipes that will be tagged “basics”. I decided to break them out into separate posts in order to give you more specific guidance on how to learn them since they are recipes that are used repeatedly in Italian cooking. Today, we are starting with one of my favorite basic recipes, béchamel sauce. As you can see from the name, the origin of this sauce is French and is believed to have been invented by Auguste Escoffier. Italians call this sauce balsamella or besciamella, and it’s a component in dishes such as lasagne, pasticcio, crocchette (croquettes), timballo, baked […]