If you can cook you know that....

I don’t see why not, but I don’t speak from experience. My main concern would be the flavor.

The freezing process after making my bi-annual Vat O’Stew (or O’soup) can really mess up everything else in the freezer. Plus, I like my green veggies a little less cooked than the rest of the Vat Veggies.

So, I use frozen peas or green beans now. Fill the storage container or bag about 3/4 with fresh Vatty goodness, then top off with frozen green veggies. Gives the cooling process a major head start, and after re-warming the green stuff is cooked perfectly. Extra added bonus: No greenish tinge to light-colored broths.

St. Cad: I’ve never tried it, but Rum has a lot more sugar in it, and I expect it would brown too much on the bottom. Worth a try, but not right before a dinner party. FWIW

I must be the only person on the planet who doesn’t like cast iron. Also, there are dishwasher knife holders out there. I don’t do it, but it can be done. Knives with wooden handles are a generally a dishwasher no-no, however.

But then they’d have to have it in the house. :slight_smile: Not all of them feel like that, certainly, but its common enough around here. Interestingly, the Amish (at least some sects) will make wine and beer to drink but will not purchase alcohol because they do not wish to support the alcohol industry.

At any rate, I have no such qualms and I’m eager to try it.

Except maybe not

When you get creative with a recipe, WRITE IT DOWN. That way you can recreate your successes in the future. :slight_smile:

Baking soda isn’t a substitute for baking powder.

Never pick up something without knowing where you are going to put it down.

You can delegate a few tasks to the microwave to save time with minimal loss in quality in the finished dish. Here are a few things I do in the microwave:

Bacon (On a paper plate, between a few layers of paper towels. Peel it loose from the towel one minute into cooking, though).

Onions and/or garlic cooked until translucent in butter or oil. I do this when I want to add them to a dish at the end of the dish’s cooking.

Blond roux. Perfecto.

Brown roux. No kidding, it works great, and I’ve tasted it made both ways.

Softening flour tortillas prior to rolling up burritos. Brush them with a little water, and microwave them for about 20-30 seconds.

:dubious: Doing it on the stove is fine for me.

I don’t wet flour tortillas. They get soft without water. I had a taco a little bit ago. Instead of frying (and dirtying a pan) I made a soft taco by dampening a corn tortilla, then putting the meat on top and microwaving it for 30 seconds. Works a treat. (In actuality, I could have done 20 seconds; but I wanted to ensure the meat was hot.)

I think I just found the problem with my pie crusts: Room-temperature Crisco.

Thank you,** Chefguy**!

Oh yeah, if you want flaky crust, you can’t let your fat melt. Keep it cold, don’t over handle it.

That whoever opened a paint can with one of my very few vaguely decent knives should be seen to have legally invited a (small?) stabbing with said-knife.

Never start cooking in an untidy kitchen with a cluttered sink and a full dishwasher, and keep your workspace organised.

Allow refrigerated meat to come to room temperature before cooking.

Freshly-grated nutmeg will go with just about anything involving potato.

Cooking destroys the flavour of olive oil. Save the good stuff for using raw i.e. dipping or dressing.

Potato ricers are more useful than you might initially suppose.

I’ve used a vanilla liqueur in place of water when making a sweet pie crust. It worked very well, leaving behind a faint scent and sweetness, nothing too cloying or over-flavoured.

Once you’ve learned what needs cooking quickly and what benefits from a slow roast or a crockpot, you’re golden.

And if you really want flaky and are handling the pastry more than usual, repeatedly folding and rolling out, then refrigerate between folds to keep it cold so you don’t lose the integrity of your layers.

Particularly in a small kitchen.

I don’t have a dishwasher to stow dishes, so I often wash them as I’m finished with them while I’m cooking. It seems that I frequently use large bowls or other dishes that take up space and are not needed once their contents are used. Better to wash them, get them into the drying rack, and save counter space.

Unless you’re me, who apparently is the baking savant, because I’ve never had baking be quite the exacting trial others make it out to be. I baked for 2 and a half years in college with nothing but a teaspoon and a 1/3rd measuring cup. I’m not going to say I was a genius in the kitchen but there were never any leftovers.

Okay, pie crust advisors. This is my plan. Please suggest tweaks, as I will be making a pie for the Thanksgiving luncheon at work soon. It will be a pumpkin pie with crushed pecans* folded into the crust, and some sort of broken pecans tossed on top.

  1. Use my metal or a glass bowl and freeze that fucker before I do anything else.
  2. Chill my Crisco (use something else, or is that best for pie crust?) in the fridge while the bowl is freezing.
    2a. Do a shot of ice-cold vanilla vodka. Use another couple shots in my pie dough instead of water.**
  3. Using my pastry cutter (and NOT my warm hands), cut the Crisco into the flour and then put the bowl back in the fridge.
  4. A while later, remove bowl from fridge, roll out crust, quick like a bunny.
  5. Slap crust into pie pan quick like a bunny, poke holes in bottom, put back into fridge until guts of pie are ready.
  6. Remove cold crust from fridge, pour pie guts in, slap in oven before crust knows what hit it.

How am I doing? It’s the simplest damn thing, and my pies turn out delicious, but I cannot get that flaky crust that Loretta Lynn was always going on about in the Crisco commercials. Nor does my crust look like the one on the Crisco container.

  • I toss a half cup or so of pecans into a ziploc baggie and then roll it out to crush all the pecans to fine pecan dust. These pecans will be toasted first to add some depth to the nutty flavor that ends up in the crust.

** I cannot WAIT to try this part.

And most cooks can get there if they learn to think in terms of ratios rather than measurements.

This* is the best cookbook ever written IMHO. Decades of experimentation and I was only halfway there. A few hours of reading and the occaisional glance back and it’s all here now.

*Ratio by Michael Ruhlman

What a great thread! I’m a good cook, but reminders of what good cooking is all about are always nice.
I will contribute with: if you are adding frozen peas to a dish, they do not need to go in until the very end. They can just be incorporated and mixed in. Nothing worse than mushy peas. Never buy canned peas.
I’ve known the Vodka trick for a while but have never tried it. I think I’m inspired to make a fruity pie with a flaky crust – a good excuse to buy a bottle one of these days.

Frozen grated ginger root: what a great idea! Thanks very much, TruCelt.