Test Kitchen video tip: Choosing a bread wash

Bread recipes often call for some sort of "wash"  or glaze before baking, sometimes egg, sometimes milk. Even butter. Different washes are used to achieve different results:

• Brushing with beaten whole eggs will give both color and sheen to a bread. Egg yolk provides rich color, browning easily in the oven. Egg white provides a nice sheen.
• Brushing with milk will help to color the crust, the sugars in the milk helping to brown the crust.
• Water is often sprayed or brushed onto bread before it is placed in a very hot oven, and during baking, to give the bread an extra-crisp crust. Water added to an egg wash helps to thin the wash so it brushes more easily.
• Butter will give the bread a softer crust and richer flavor.
• Sweeteners--honey, syrup, etc.--will give bread a sweeter, softer crust.

If you have any kitchen tips or questions you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or shoot me an e-mail at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

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Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

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-- Noelle Carter
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Video credit: Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times

Kitchen gadget: Bismark tip

Have you ever wondered how pastry chefs and doughnut shops are able to pipe those perfectly puffed eclairs and plump jelly doughnuts with their glorious fillings? It takes a very long piping tip.

Better known as a Bismarck pastry tip (named after the doughnut), these handy little gadgets make simple work of filling all sorts of baked goods: classic pastries, doughnuts, even cupcakes. Trying to fill a delicate pastry using a standard pastry tip can be almost as messy as eating one; the tip is often just too short and thick to reach the center of the baked good. Bismarck tips are shaped like a standard piping tip but with a long tube attached at the end to make the job of injecting your favorite treats with all sorts of sweet goodness that much easier.

Bismarck pastry tips can generally be found at cooking and baking supply stores, as well as at select craft stores, and are widely available online. A Bismarck pastry tip should set you back only $3 to $6.

Continue reading below for recipe links for eclairs, yeast-raised doughnuts and more!

If you have any kitchen gadgets or tips you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or shoot me an email at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

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Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

-- Noelle Carter
You can find me on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

Photo: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

This week's recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

Have you ever considered trying your hand at homemade eclairs or cream puffs? It all starts with a dough called pate-a-choux:

Pate-a-choux is the stuff of magic in the kitchen. Pipe a soft, sticky dough onto a baking sheet and slide it into a hot oven. In mere minutes the dough puffs up — practically exploding to double, even triple, its original size — right before your eyes. Out of the oven, pate-a-choux cools to a golden-brown shell, crisp yet delicate and lighter than air. It's downright mesmerizing.

Maybe you've never heard of pate-a-choux, but you've no doubt savored it at one time or another. Also known as cream puff dough, it's the magic behind crisp éclair shells and towering cream puff pastries, savory profiteroles and cheesy gougères.

Even better? Pate-a-choux is really simple to make. All it takes is butter, water, flour and eggs, perhaps a touch of sugar and salt, to get you started.

No worries. We include plenty of recipes, including that rich chocolate glaze pictured above!

This week's recipes include:

• Pate-a-choux
• Pastry cream
• Chocolate glaze
• Cayenne's Moroccan chicken soup

When you try one of this week's recipes or any L.A. Times recipe, let us know! Upload a photo onto the "Our Recipes, Your Kitchen" gallery to share your take on the recipe and tell us about yourself. Your photo will be posted online on our LA Times Food page.

ALSO:

Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

— Noelle Carter
You can find me on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

Photo: Eclairs with pastry cream and chocolate glaze. Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

Test Kitchen tips: Storing knives in a knife block

Quick tip on storing knives: If you have a knife block with vertical slots, like the one shown above, consider storing your knives so the edge of each blade is facing up. This will help to keep your edges sharper. When knives are stored with the edge facing downward, the edge has to slide along the bottom of the slot as the knife is housed, dulling the blade.

You might also consider a horizontal knife block (the slits run side to side); I picked one up a few years ago for my extra knifes at home and fell in love with it. Or do as Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila does and go for a magnetic knife rack.

If you have any kitchen tips or questions you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

ALSO:

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

What's hot: Recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

-- Noelle Carter
You can find me on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter

Photo credit: Noelle Carter

Test Kitchen video tips: Measuring butter without a wrapper

You have a recipe that calls for 4 tablespoons of butter, but you're out of those nice sticks with the measure on the wrapper, and have only unmarked ends in the back of the fridge. What do you do?

Not to worry! Fill a measuring cup part-way with cold water, and drop in your butter bits until the measure reaches whatever you need. For 1/2 cup, or 8 tablespoons of butter, fill a measuring cup with, say, one cup of water. Add butter until it reaches 1 1/2 cups, and there you have it.

This trick will even work with butter that has been left out at room temperature; just make sure the water is very cold so the butter doesn't melt as it's added and measured.

If you have any kitchen tips or questions you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

If you have any kitchen tips or questions you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

ALSO:

Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

— Noelle Carter
You can find me on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

Video credit: Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times

Test Kitchen video tip: Butcher's slip knot and tying a roast

Whether you're tying a roast or trussing a chicken, knowing how to tie a good knot can save you time and stress when you're preparing a big meal. This knot, often called a butcher's knot, is simple and sturdy, always good to know in the kitchen.

And while most butchers can truss a roast for you, you never know when you might need the skills in your own kitchen. Watch the video above for a quick demonstration.

For a quick demo on how it's done, click here.

If you have any kitchen tips or questions you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

ALSO:

Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

— Noelle Carter
You can find me on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

Video credit: Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times.

Test Kitchen video tips: Skimming fat with a paper towel

If you need to remove a small amount of fat from the surface of a soup, stock or other hot liquid, skim the fat using a paper towel. Gently lay a flat paper towel over the surface of the liquid, and pull it across the surface to absorb the fat. Continue until the fat is gone, using new paper towels as needed. This won't work for large amounts of fat (best to break out the ladle for that one), but is a great tip when you want to catch that last little bit on the surface of your soup.

If you have any kitchen tips or questions you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or shoot me an email at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

ALSO:

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

What's hot: Recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

-- Noelle Carter
Twitter/noellecarter

Video credit: Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times

This week's recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

In our latest Master Class, Thomas Keller explores cold soups, perfect for summer:

I have come back to soup time and time again (and that's in both my cooking and acting career for those of you who are Pixar fans) — always fascinated and challenged by the possibilities it offers.

Soup is an ideal way to begin a meal, and it will always have a place at my table regardless of the time of year. In summer, when we crave fresh flavors and light dishes, chilled soups offer us a perfect venue for showcasing an array of produce from the garden.

The soup recipes here demonstrate the variety of tools we use to extract these flavors in their purest form. Some (gazpacho and vichyssoise) are practically meals unto themselves, while others (corn soup and carrot consommé) are meant more as a palate-awakening amuse bouche.

And restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila profiles London-based chef Yotam Ottolenghi:

Until very recently, I'd never actually eaten Yotam Ottolenghi's food. I'd certainly cooked a lot of it, but I had never been to one of his London restaurants. I knew the Israeli-born chef strictly from his two cookbooks, but that was enough for me to admire how he can take seemingly ordinary ingredients and make them add up to something more vivid than you'd ever imagine from reading through a recipe. His cooking has a clarity and authenticity unusual in a world where chefs work harder and harder to amaze with daring technique and surprising ingredients.

This week's recipes include:

• Gazpacho
• Cucumber vichyssoise
• Chilled corn soup
• Carrot consommé
• Zucchini and manouri fritters
• Shakshuka
• Lawry's baked macaroni and cheese

When you try one of this week's recipes or any L.A. Times recipe, let us know! Upload a photo onto the "Our Recipes, Your Kitchen" gallery to share your take on the recipe and tell us about yourself. Your photo will be posted online and may be selected to run in print with our weekly section.

ALSO:

Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

— Noelle Carter
You can find me on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

Video: Chef Rory Hermann demonstrates how to make chilled corn soup. Credit: Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times.

Test Kitchen video tip: Cleaning tamarind pulp

I love the tart, bright flavors of tamarind. It's a perfect ingredient when you want to add a fresh "zing" to a dish. The photo above is from a recipe for salmon skewers with tamarind sauce, adapted from a recipe by Marcus Samuelsson and a favorite go-to dish when I'm grilling on a summer evening.

The flavor is magical, but tamarind can come across as a difficult ingredient if you've never used it. While seedless pulp is available at many markets, it's commonly found packaged in blocks — the pulp (or paste) is often packed with bits of seed and solids, which need to be strained before the pulp can be used.

But the method is simple:

Take a block of tamarind (14 ounces), place it in a large bowl and soak it in about 2 cups of really hot water. The hot water helps to loosen the block. Set it aside for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the block is softened and the water is cool enough to handle. Work the block with your fingers, breaking up the block and massaging the pulp to dislodge the solids. Run the pulp through a strainer, discard the solids, then cover and refrigerate the pulp until needed. This makes a generous cup of seedless pulp (amounts can vary by brand and amount of solids packed with the block), which should keep for a good week in the refrigerator.

You can increase or decrease the amount of water for soaking depending on how strong you want the finished product.

Depending on the recipe, you might also want to make tamarind liquid. We ran a recipe, along with a great story on the many uses for tamarind, a few years ago.

Enjoy!

If you have any kitchen tips or questions you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or email me at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

ALSO:

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

What's hot: Recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

-- Noelle Carter
Twitter/noellecarter

Video credit: Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times

Test Kitchen tips: Scaling fish (without the mess)

If you've ever tried scaling fish at home, you know what a mess it can be. Scales everywhere, just like confetti. Except they can be even more difficult to clean, because scales seem to stick to everything.

Don't worry. It is possible to scale fish without the gigantic mess. Simply use a trash bag. Place the fish in a large plastic trash bag (not a plastic grocery bag, you need a big garbage bag so you have room to work), and cover the fish and your arms as you scale to contain the mess.

And while you can buy fish scalers to do the job, I find a nice, somewhat flat soup spoon works just fine to pry the scales. Just be sure you don't put too much pressure on the fish as you scale, or you can bruise the flesh. (Gutting a fish is for another post, but I promise to cover that soon.)

For some great whole fish recipes from Food editor Russ Parsons, continue reading below.

If you have any kitchen tips or questions you'd like me to explore, leave a comment below or shoot me an e-mail at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

ALSO:

Go behind the scenes at the Test Kitchen

134 recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes

Browse hundreds of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

-- Noelle Carter
You can find me on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter

Photo credit: Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times