Salad : How To Make Macaroni Salad

Just like mom used to make! Macaroni salad is a staple at American picnics. Follow our VideoJug chef, Chris Jacobson aka "CJ" as he turns mom's ordinary in the extraordinary & macaroni that is.

SERVINGS : 1

INGREDIENTS
2 cups ( 500 ml ) macaroni, cooked
2 medium hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 parsley, chopped
3 celery, chopped
2 green onion, chopped
1 shallots, diced
1/4 cups ( 60 ml ) garlic aioli
3 small garlic cloves, minced
1 medium egg, beaten
1 lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 D 3 tsp pepper
1/2 cups (120ml) olive oil

PROCESSING METHOD

Perfect Macaroni
* Begin with 2 cups (280 g) of blanched off macaroni. Cook the macaroni al dente and let cool.
* Drizzle the macaroni with olive oil to retain freshness.

Dress It Up
* In a large mixing bowl, add 1 Tbsp chopped parsley, 2 Tbsp chopped green onion, 1 Tbsp diced shallots, 3 Tbsp chopped celery, 2 chopped hard-boiled eggs and 1/4 cup (60 ml) garlic aioli.

Garlic Aioli
* Garlic aioli is made by mixing 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1 beaten egg, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp chopped parsley, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/3 tsp pepper. Then slowly mix in 1/2 cup (125 ml) of olive oil until creamy.

Season To Taste
* Add a pinch of pure cane sugar to sweeten then add salt and pepper to taste.
* A squeeze of lemon juice with brighten this starchy dish and add flavor.
* Drizzle a little olive oil over the contents to create a Mediterranean taste.

Mix It Well
* Fold all ingredients over and mix well until creamy.
* Check the taste and season accordingly with salt and pepper.
* Refrigerate and enjoy!

Beurre blanc, or white butter, is a classic and delicious French wine and butter sauce. Versatile and simple to make, beurre blanc has a light texture and rich flavor that goes great with different types of seafood.

INGREDIENTS
Alright, so beurre blanc means "white butter." It's a white butter sauce that begins with white wine.
1 cup of white wine
1/4 cup of white wine vinegar
2 tbsp finely minced shallots
8 oz of cold unsalted butter, which is 1 cup or 2 sticks, cut in cubes

PROCESSING METHOD

Heat the Beurre Blanc Ingredients
* Into a saucepan we're going to add the wine, vinegar and shallots. Over medium heat we're going to bring that to a simmer and reduce it down by about 75-80%. Don't walk away from it because it will burn quickly, so watch it reduce, until it gets down to this.
* Now at that point we would turn the heat to low and whisk in our butter, if we were a very old school chef. But, what we're going to do is add 2 tbsp of heavy cream.

Now, there is no cream in real beurre blanc, I want that to be clear. But if you add the cream you have a much higher success rate as the cream will stabilize the emulsification and will help incorporate the butter. So, it's not a must, but it does make it easier for the home cook in my experience.

Whisk in the Butter
* If you choose to add the cream let it reduce for 2 minutes, and then turn the heat down to low and begin whisking in the butter, 5 or 6 pieces at a time. I like to wait until about half the butter disappears before adding the next few chucks. Keep doing that until all the butter is gone. It will probably take 6 or 7 additions, and all that butter will be incorporated. Remember this was on the lowest heat setting you have.

Season the Beurre Blanc
Once it's all incorporated, season with salt to taste, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 tsp, and your beurre blanc is ready to serve. This is going to make just about a cup of sauce. It is an incredible combination of light and rich - nice and tangy from the reduction.

Now, don't be afraid of this sauce breaking. To prove it I'm going to bring this up to a rolling boil, breaking all the beurre blanc making rules and this isn't going to break - partially because of the cream we added. So that's why people sneak it in, even though the purist don't. It just makes it more stable. And there we go.

Serving Beurre Blanc
We're going to serve that with some seafood usually, I have some delicious scallops here, shrimp is good, any kind of light fish, people use it on chicken and veal. It's really easy to customize with herbs or different vinegars. Anyway, that's how you make beurre blanc. Very simple, very delicious. I hope you give it a try. Enjoy.

 
Sauces & Condiments : How To Make Vegetable Stock

Follow top Chef Colin Wint's recipe for a classic Vegetable Stock. This is a key ingredient in many recipes.

SERVING : Recipe makes 1.5 litres

Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Cooking Time : 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS
2 carrots
2 medium sized onions
4 celery sticks
1 fennel bulb
2 courgettes
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme
5 ml coriander seeds
1 ltr water
1 lemon

1 sharp knife
1 chopping board
1 large saucepan
1 saucepan lid or tin foil
1 measuring jug
1 wooden spoon
1 ladel
1 sieve

PROCESSING METHOD

Prepare the vegetables
* Chop the 2 carrots into pieces about 2 centimetres long.
* Now roughly chop the 2 onions.
* Next the 2 courgettes
* And the 4 celery sticks
* Remove any stalks from the fennel bulb. Chop into 4 large pieces, then chop each of these into smaller pieces.
* Finally slice the lemon

Into the pan
* Warm 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large saucepan for about a minute over a medium heat.
* Then add the onions, carrots, courgettes, fennel, celery and lemon. Then add the bay leaf and sprig of thyme. Leave to sweat down for 8-10 minutes.

Add water
* Pour in the litre of water and stir well. Put on a lid, or if your pot is too big for a lid you can cover it in tin foil. Cook for about 30 minutes.

Strain
* Ladle the liquid through a sieve into a bowl or jug and discard the vegetables.

Using
* The stock can be used immediately or stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. You could even freeze it until needed.

  
Salad : How To Make Tuna Salad With Soy Dressing

Once you give this marinated tuna dish a try, you will see that it is not your everyday salad and the unique soy dressing takes it to another dimension.

SERVING : 2

Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Cooking Time : 1 hour 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp coriander, chopped
1 tbsp parsley chopped
50 ml olive oil
250 g tuna, cut into large batons
50 g cucumber, cut into fine slices
1 bunch of mint leaves
1 bunch of parsley leaves

For The Dressing
50 ml soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp honey

1 bowl
1 spoon
1 whisk
1 non-stick frying pan
1 pair of tongs
1 sharp knife
1 chopping board
1 small bowl
1 plate

PROCESSING METHOD

Season the tuna
* Put the pepper, coriander, parsley, salt, and olive oil into a bowl and mix together.
* Put the tuna batons onto a plate and spoon over the seasoning. Roll the tuna to cover well.

Seal the tuna
* Put the frying pan on a high heat and when hot, add the tuna. Cook for twenty seconds on each side. Don't forget to seal the sides and the ends.
* Remove from the pan and leave to rest for at least an hour.

Make the dressing
* Mix the soy sauce, vinegar and honey in a bowl and whisk together.

Serve
* Cut the tuna into 5 millimetre slices.
* Now arrange it on a plate with some cucumber in the middle.
* Top with parsley and mint leaves, spoon over some of the soy dressing and serve.

   
Salad : How To Make Coleslaw

A creamy, luxurious coleslaw bursting with vitality and goodness.

SERVING : 4

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS
300 g of white cabbage, thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and grated
2 spring onions or scallions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp of mayonnaise
2 tbsp of sour cream
1 tsp of mustard
2 tbsp of vinegar
1 tsp of sugar
salt
pepper

1 large bowl
1 small bowl
1 metal spoon
cling film

PROCESSING METHOD

Make the dressing
* The secret to a fantastic coleslaw is in the dressing. To make the dressing put the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper into a small bowl and combine with the large spoon until the mix forms a rich, creamy dressing.

Add the dressing to the vegetables
* Put the cabbage into the bigger bowl, then the carrots and finally the spring onions or scallions.
* Mix all the vegetables up and then pour the dressing on top.
* Mix together again until all the vegetables are smothered in dressing.

Cover and chill
* Next, cover your coleslaw with cling film or saran wrap and put it in the fridge for an hour to chill slightly. This will allow the vegetables to marinate in the dressing, which will make it taste even better.

Hi, I'm Chef John Mitzewich for About.com Food, and today I'm going to show you how to make a citronette dressing. What is a citronette? It's basically a vinaigrette, but made with citrus juice. So please don't call it a lemon vinaigrette, because that's not what it is! Citronette is a light and versatile lemon dressing that is perfect over salads and steamed veggies. See how to whip up lemon citronette, and learn an alternative method to "emulsifying" an oil and acid dressing without all the whisking.

INGREDIENTS
2 large lemons
olive oil
Dijon mustard
cayenne for some heat
salt

PROCESSING METHOD

Squeeze the Lemons
* Now were going to squeeze these lemons, I'm expecting to get a 1/2 cup of juice. You usually get about a 1/4 cup of juice per lemon. Let's measure this and, yes we have exactly 1/2 cup of juice.

Mix the Citronette Ingredients
* Now I know how much oil to measure, which is going to be 3/4 cup of a light olive oil. And we're ready to start our citronette. This is like my favorite all-purpose light summer dressing, its good with everything.
* In the bowl we put the mustard, the lemon juice, a pinch of cayenne, some people use black pepper, but I don't like the black specks, and a pinch of salt to wake things up.

Shake the Citronette
* Were going to give that a stir with our whisk. We are NOT going to whisk in the oil as tradition would have us. I have a secret weapon... the shaker bottle. We pour in our lemon mixture and top with the oil. The ratio is 1 part lemon juice to 1 1/2 parts oil.
* Now instead of whisking we are going to shake vigorously for one minute. This will emulsify it. What does emulsify it mean? It means a vinegar and/or lemon juice is suspended into the oil. See the spoon, how everything is together.

Storing and Serving the Citronette
* The other great thing about using the bottle to make the citronette, is when you are done you can put a piece of plastic wrap over the top and screw on the top and put it away.
* I served it with some asparagus and tomatoes. It was delicious, unbelievable, and so fresh.

 
Sauces & Condiments : How To Make Pesto

It's classic, it's easy, and best of all, there's no cooking involved! Follow our expert led guide to whipping up this delicious Italian sauce.

SERVING : 4

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS
50 g pine nuts
50 g pecorino cheese
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove
handful fresh basil

1 cheese grater
1 pestle and mortar

PROCESSING METHOD

Crush
* Tear the basil leaves off the stems and place into the mortar. Crush them with the pestle.
* Add 50 grams, which is about a handful of pine nuts, and grind.
* Crush the garlic with the knife blade, chop off each end and peel.
* Add to the mortar and continue crushing. Keep going until the mixture is reduced to a paste.

Mix
* Grate 50 grams of pecorino cheese, and add to the mortar. While you are stirring, gradually pour in the extra virgin olive oil.
* Have a taste, and add a touch of salt and pepper if you think it needs it.

Serve
* Stir through some freshly cooked pasta, and garnish with some grated pecorino cheese.