When to add salt to cooking water?

How to glaze a tart

Professional pastrycooks usually say that "a beautiful cake is already half sold", it is one of the reasons why they do not put a tart on sale without glazing it ("abricoter" in Fench), i.e. coating it with a thick apricot syrup. This glaze gives a glossy finish to the tart (see the photographs below) and also protects it from the air and thus from oxidation and browning. It's a quite simple technique that you can easily apply to give to your desserts a professional look. This is how you do it.

How to cook bacon and remove excess fat

To prevent excess fat in a recipe using bacon, you can "blanch" it before use, leaving most of the fat in the pan with the water.

Muffin dough

This dough can be used to make this delicious and classic of the English cooking: muffins. It can be sweet, in different flavours, with fruit, but also savoury in other recipes.

Praline

Praline is a preparation of caramelized nuts (in this case almonds), with a very characteristic flavour. Either crushed or as a paste, it is used to fill or flavour all manner of things like creams, chocolates, biscuits, etc.

Carbonnade

Carbonnade is a dish that comes from Belgium and the north of France. Large pieces of beef are slowly simmered in beer with carrots and onions. Here's a personal version.