Meredith Laurence Videos/Recipes

Meredith Laurence (the ‘Blue Jean Chef ’) Videos/Recipes

I got an air fryer recently, and I love it! In searching for a good air fryer cookbook, I came across this one by Meredith Laurence. It's amazing, and led me to her series of online cooking/baking videos. WOW!!! Not only are the recipes incredible, but she actually teaches you about cooking at the same time. I'm won over! This page is a place for me to keep track of her videos (and notes to myself). They're in alphabetical order.

blueberry muffins (full recipe in description)

(0:26) butter muffin pan technique: insides/top (no stick, flavor, browning)
(1:00) cake flour: less gluten than all-purpose; gluten makes thing chewy
(1:25) whisk dry ingredients instead of sifting: quick, gets rid of lumps
(1:35) toss blueberries with flour mixture, so they won't sink to bottom of muffin
(2:18) don't overbeat; don't want to incorporate air into batter (which causes tunneling as air escapes in oven)
(2:50) overmixing can cause chewy-ness
(3:15) let batter rest in refrigerator for 30–60 minutes: relaxes the gluten (to cut down on chewy-ness); also, batter thickens a bit and gives a better rise in the oven
(4:10) turbinado sugar (coarser sugar) for decoration: on edges, not center (which could inhibit rising)
(4:45) to get crowned dome: start with high temp (gives baking powder burst of energy so it rises quickly), then lower temperature (proteins set)

beef burgers (full recipe in description)

(0:10) burger meat: use 80% lean/20% fat
(0:33) form the patties: make ball, throw from hand-to-hand, make dent in middle so will be flat after cooking

buffalo wings (3:38) (full recipe in description)

(0:30) three parts of a chicken wing: tip, wingette/paddles, drumette/drumstick
(0:40) how to separate wing sections

buttermilk biscuits (full recipe in description)

Note: There's a typo in my air-fryer cookbook (page 64); it should say 16 biscuits, not 8!
This is why my biscuits weren't baking properly—they were WAAAYYYYY too big!
I need to do them much smaller, in 2–3 batches.
The recipe in this video is almost identical, except for the addition of the cheddar cheese
and slight time/temperature adjustment for the air fryer.

(0:37) I use a whisk to mix (her tip from a different video!)
(0:40) freeze stick of butter; grate it into flour mixture
(1:10) I line the cake pan with parchment paper.
(1:40) I had to add extra buttermilk, to get the same consistency as hers.
(2:00) I found that a bit more than 1/2 cup all-purpose flour is sufficient.
(2:25) use a scant 1/4 cup measure for each biscuit—perfect for 16 biscuits
(2:50) the idea is to work the dough as little as possible to keep the biscuits flaky
(3:00) dump the excess flour directly into the trash (carefully)
(3:15) I melt the butter in the microwave in a 2-cup pyrex (10 secs, 10 secs, 5-sec bursts, stirring between) and drizzle over biscuits

caesar salad (full recipe in description)

(0:21) lettuce-cutting technique
(0:34) parmigiano-reggiano cheese; will try to get at Trader Joes
(0:45) homemade croutons; air fry 370° for 5 minutes
(1:09) If (oil/water; egg yolk/oil) are shaken together, tiny droplets of one liquid spread through the other liquid, forming a mixture called an emulsion. Emulsions are thicker (more viscous) than the components they contain.
anchovy paste on on Amazon
(1:43) homemade garlic paste
(3:05) lighter version: use yogurt instead of egg yolks
(4:26) Use your hands!

chocolate mousse (full recipe in description)

(0:30) Put a little cream in with chocolate for melting.
I melt in microwave: 15-second bursts, stirring between.
I use only 3.5 oz, and it's a fantastic delicate chocolate flavor: Ghiradelli intense dark 72% cacao, $2.38 each at Walmart [October 2018]
(0:52) technique for separating eggs
(1:05) discussion of soft-peak stage (‘chocolate kiss’ for whipped egg whites or cream);
Magic Bullet (even with special whipping blade) does NOT work for egg whites;
instead, use whipping attachment (looks like a whisk) on mixer
(1:45) Refrigerate bowl before whipping cream, and make sure cream is very cold.
(The cream does whip in the Magic Bullet with the whipping blade, but it's too easy to go past the soft peak stage, and it's harder to get it all out—so just use a cold bowl!)
(3:15) folding technique

deviled eggs (full recipe in description)

(0:10) Hard-boil eggs in the instant pot (much easier to peel): she says 6 minutes [see note below]; quick-release steam, put eggs into ice bath, dip egg into water after peeling to make sure all peel is gone.
For my instant pot, 6 mins is not enough—still have soft centers—I do 8 minutes.
I use these additions to mashed yolks for 1 dozen eggs, from a recipe I've used for many years:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
- 1/2 tsp dried chives
- 1/2 tsp ground mustard
- 1/8 tsp dill weed
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp paprika (more sprinkled on top)
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 2 Tb milk
(1:40) tip for cutting eggs in half: wipe knife in between every cut
(2:50) Fill using a homemade piping bag (from ziplock bag).
(Sometimes, I just spoon into egg halves.)

pie crust (full recipe in description)

(0:15) Make sure butter is cold! Cut the butter into small cubes, then refrigerate. There should be little chunks of butter in the pastry. The water in the butter evaporates, resulting in a nice flaky crust.
(1:15) Butter chunks should be about the size of a (small) pea. Use ice-cold water!
(2:15) Gather together with hands, shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic, cool in refrigerator—making the crust the day before works great.
(2:55) Use a large silicone mat to roll out the pastry dough.
(3:10) Roll from the inside to the outside; if you roll all the way over, you end up with a sloped edge. Center out; center back; repeat; 90° turn and repeat.
(4:00) To transfer to pie plate: roll pastry up onto rolling pin, unroll over pie plate.