I usually grate my garlic on a relatively fine grater. It comes out nice and fine. You just have to be a bit careful so you don’t take your skin off.
If that’s a dirty secret, I’m guilty of buying premade butter, and not slaughtering and butchering meat, and the list goes on. I’ll make my own sausage to double stuff the turkey on Thanksgiving, but I’m going to use Jimmy Dean to make biscuits and gravy the next morning.
Edit: And doesn’t Emeril use all that pre-mix stuff he sells?
Good canned tomatoes are superior to fresh tomatoes unless it’s July through September/maybe mid-October.
I used canned beans in a lot of applications; in particular, I think they’re way better for hummus than soaked-and-cooked fresh ones, in addition to being way easier and quicker. I tend to do fresh beans if I’m making a main-course bean dish, but when it’s a side (like I do black beans along with tacos/fajitas) I do canned.
I also do bagged spinach and cooking greens, just because I hate breaking them down. I won’t do other salad greens.
That’s about the extent of my “cheating”. I really don’t get the “jarlic” thing–chopping up garlic only becomes a pain in the ass if you’re doing a LOT of it–like several heads at once–and if I’m doing that then the quality of the garlic matters.
Exactly, it’s fairly obvious that the intent is that the sugars and fats are creamed together, so what different does it make if I dump the drys in a bit mixed up beforehand or not? It’s not like they won’t be mixed as you add them to the wet stuff.
I’ll do ya one better: when I’m jonesing for some good guacamole, I run down to the grocery store and pick up a bag of Wholly Guacamole out of the produce section. It’s vacuum-packed, chunky, REAL avocado guacamole. It doesn’t contain any mayo, or other filler crap added (just check out the ingredients). Trust me, it’s goooood.
I agree with you on jar garlic, but I’ve found a cheat product that actually is just as good as fresh. Trader Joe’s carries these little plastic trays of frozen minced herbs made by a company called Dorot that are simply the best thing ever. I little cube of frozen garlic goodness equals about one medium clove, they just pop right out.
Yep, jarlic, in water. It’s not as strong as fresh, but it’s GARLIC.
Also, getting to the end of a big batch of homemade (or should I say “artisinal”) meat sauce, but can’t face eating spag for the fifth time in a row? A couple dashes of worcestershire sauce, and now you’ve got Sloppy Joes.
Oh yeah, when making toll house cookies, I put the butter in the bowl with the sugars and partially melt it in the nuke instead of creaming them together by hand. Easier on the wrist. No diff in the final product.
I don’t sift flour, ever. Seriously, this makes no difference to any recipe I’ve ever tried, so long as your flour isn’t obviously lumpy. Stir it with a fork a little bit; it’ll be fine. Weighing flour rather than measuring it with a cup is way, way, way, way, way more important than this sifting nonsense.
Actually, if it’s something that involves sifting ingredients INTO the flour, I’ll run it through a food processor, but I won’t LIKE it.
We use garlic-ginger paste and jarlic for somethings, especially if it is going to be sautéed. I always use fresh though if it is to be eaten without cooking, like in hummus. Jarlic has no bite.
We used dried minced onion in tuna salad because it is better than fresh in someways. It has a certain crunch but less bite, and it absorbs water from the tuna which seems to improve the texture. Fresh onions do better in chicken salad though.
I use canned garbanzo beans to make hummus, although I make my own tahini.
I misread things all the time, but usually catch it before saying something stupid. I really hate progressive lenses.
The only thing I occasionally will simmer in a liquid first is raw sausages, if it’s a last minute thing. Even then, I prefer to just cook them indirectly and make people wait.
oooh, I want one of those!
Sir, I could kiss you. I just had to toss a rusty old half-can of the stuff the other day! I’m totally going to look into the tube.
My secret: I have a recipe for alfredo sauce that calls for cream cheese. I don’t have to make a roux!
I’ve been using garlic/onion powder a lot less than I used to (though the aforementioned alfredo sauce recipe calls for it), if just because fresh garlic tends to have more of a smell (and I looooooove the smell of fresh garlic added to food). I do use a press, which I’ve heard is fairly blasphemous among foodies. But frankly, I just think it brings out the smell more.
I’m another boxed-stock offender, mostly because I’ve never tried to make it before. My mom has, but she says she’s never liked her results. I might try my hand at it at some point. (Seafood stock would be good too.)
I sure hope everyone means parbroiling because if you tell me you are going to grill me a nice porterhouse and I catch you dumping it into a pot of boiling water I would have no choice but to kill you. No jury on earth would convict me. Doesn’t anyone else set up their grill for both direct and indirect heat? Sear it on direct, let it finish on indirect.
well because when you cream the butter and sugar together you are beating air into the mixture, then when you add the flour mixture you are taking air back out if you have to overmix because of adding the dry ingrediants seperately it will make a heavier denser cookie. That may not be noticiable to you or even be preferable to you.
Side note: if you can’t tell the difference between cookies/confections in which you creamed the fats and sugars together first and those you haven’t, then you didn’t cream them right. You’re correct that non-creamed cookies are deeeelicious and wonderful, but the difference in end product is beyond obvious–lighter, fluffier, different texture, etc. Again, skimp all you want and enjoy, but you should give it a try to see the difference.
Also, sifted beware not sifting when a recipe calls for sifted measurements. For fun, measure a cup of flour, then sift it, and measure a cup from the sifted pile. If you’ve never done it before, you’re in for a surprise. Again, have fun with the altered recipes, they’re delicious too, but knowin what you’re changing may be interesting.
@Teela: next time your in a supermarket, grab a hunk of pork shoulder and hand it to the cutters behind the counter. Finish your shopping, then pick up a package of ground meat. Do the same with chuck for hamburger, etc. Most stores around here do it as a courtesy, I assume it’s the same around the corner.
@Spud: see post #85. Either he’s correct up yonder or you have two jurors who wouldn’t convict.
You can even do it the other way around, if you want. But, yeah, this. Sear on one side, let it come up to temp on the other. Gas grill, charcoal grill, whatever. You don’t need to even babysit that much.
(sigh) I own only a little $25 charcoal K-Mart charcoal grill. If I have a LOT of stuff to cook, I have to plan ahead and prep. Hot dogs and pounded-thin marinated chicken breast take only a few minutes. But a lot of burgers and Italian sausage, I put in a frying pan on the stove, cover, and cook till, well, just cooked through, but not browned. I can’t stand there all day at the grill babysitting the burgers and sausage. They are put on just cooked through and only need finishing over the hot coals with BBQ sauce. Potatoes, onions, and peppers are also parboiled, cut up, and put in the grilling basket with chopped bacon, or some oil, and they are finished over the hot coals, too. Nothing is raw inside/charred on the outside. (But if I ever had a steak to cook, I wouldn’t think of cooking that ahead of time.)
Obviously, the above doesn’t apply to you then.
Except for the bit about not boiling a steak.
Why do you want one side of a good steak to be soggy? And what do you mean other way around, finish it first, then sear it? We are talking about a grill here right? Sear the steak on both sides. Then let it finish. That’s the way the GFSM intended.
Spud, if I’m on the jury, there will be no conviction. It has to be unanimous.