Rules: Substituting dried herbs/spices for fresh

While I always recommend following the ingredients the recipe calls for as closely as possible, sometimes, it's just not. Here's a quick rule of thumb when you need to substitute what you've got, for what the recipe calls for: the 3:1 ratio.

3 parts fresh : 1 part dried

Dried herbs and spices have much stronger, more concentrated flavors than fresh; you'll need a lot less dried herbs in a recipe that calls for fresh herbs- a lot more fresh herbs in a recipe that calls for dried herbs.


for example:

• your recipe calls for 3 tsp of fresh ginger, but all you have is dried

--> 3 tsp fresh ginger : 1 tsp dried ginger

• your recipe calls for 1 T of dried basil leaves; but you bought fresh basil today

--> 3 T fresh basil (chopped finely) : 1 T dried basil leaves

Happy Cooking!

How To: Shuck an oyster

OYSTER SEASON HAS ARRIVED!

If you don't like raw oysters then you're insane and not my friend this post is not for you...

Oyster season takes place during all the months with an "R", however last year I was baking

this beautiful little bun

in my oven during a majority of that season, so it's been almost a whole year since I've been able to safely enjoy one of these little beauties of the sea.

So in celebration of the season, I thought I'd post with an easy How To: Shuck an oyster

for those of you who are curious, these are Choptank Bay Sweets

Using an oyster knife or another dull knife (or a flathead screwdriver like me), find the back of the oyster, called the hinge

insert your knife into the hinge, breaking the suction seal (this will take a lot of elbow grease, and unless you're like me and don't mind bloody knuckles I recommend wearing a glove of some kind)

 once you've popped it open, run your knife under the oyster to detach it from the shell

a squeeze of lemon, a little mignonette, some cocktail sauce, or as is- slurp and enjoy! 

Happy Oyster Season!

How To: Chiffonade

Chiffonade (shif-oh-NOD): a thin, shred-like cut used for leafy herbs and greens. The leaves are stacked, rolled into a cylinder and thinly sliced.

Basil...

... a leafy herb

...stacked...

...rolled...

How To: dice an onion

Because we'd all like to handle these as little as possible... you're making my mascara run...

Quarter your onion 

Now, make half-inch cuts TO the back but not THROUGH the back of the quarter

Here's the view from the bottom (?) of the quarter.. half-inch sections... go all the way across