Thursday, December 22, 2011

Merry Christmas!

I'm packing my supplies to make scalloped potatoes while I'm visiting some family up north. I was assigned Christmas Eve meal as my holiday project.

I confess scalloped potatoes are my weakness around  the holidays.  The warm butter mixed with flour moistens the potatoes so that they melt in your mouth. Such a holiday treat I cannot pass up.

This actually ties into a project I did in graduate school  with the Maillard Reaction. This is the reaction that is the basis of flavoring buttery flavored foods in the food industry. It occurs between a carbonyl and an amino group in a basic environment.