You’re talking about Shelby here, right; not the milk thing?
Tough lids are a frequent problem of mine, and somewhere along the line in the past few years I came across a nifty solution. Take a knife, screwdriver, can opener, or other sturdy, flat piece of metal. Wedge it just slightly under the edge or lip of the metal lid. Pry or twist it slightly, and you will hear the little “hiss-pop” of the vacuum seal being broken (and yes, the round center part of the lid will pop up). Voila, the lid will now screw off effortlessly. I used to try both rubber bands and hot water, but ever since I learned this I haven’t looked back. Never fails, and couldn’t be easier.
Or on Mr. Winky.
Sweep the floor every once in a while. It isn’t supposed to crunch when you walk on it.
Get a rice cooker. You put in the rice, push a button, and 20 minutes later you have rice, being kept warm for you. Make sure to get one with a non-stick surface, for when you forget about the rice and it bakes into a harder-than-steel crust on the bottom and sides of the pan.
Always buy your fish or meat the day you intend to cook it - if you plan to cook it tomorrow, that plan will fail.
Margarine tubs make great freezer containers, but the lids warp in the microwave - use a plate or paper towel to cover. Also, if you don’t label things in the freezer, at least keep the meat/main dish items on a different shelf than the desserts.
Microwave oatmeal: 1 cup water, 1/2 cup rolled oats, pinch of salt, raisins or whatever to taste, cinnamon if you want. Stir, cover, zap two minutes, stir again, and zap two more minutes. (This leaves the coffee maker free for your a.m. wake-up.)
Keep a bottle of Asti in the fridge for when you have a date over. It doesn’t matter if you have to serve it in a coffee cup, the stuff makes girls happy.
That, and when they say that dill enhances the flavor of cheese, they don’t mean dill pickle juice. Dill weed, dillweed.
Oh yeah!
If you intend to cook a REALLY good steak, do not buy it at the grocery store. Go to a butcher shop, and buy it there. The meat selection is usually VASTLY superior. If you have to buy it at the store, get it from the case, not the wrapped up in cellophane and styrofoam kind.
Your mouth will thank you.
Goddamn, Mr. Cynical. First bubbly-ass wine, then herbs and finally specialty stores? What are ya trying to do, girl-ify us?
My tip: Get yourself a kitchen mallet to pound stuff with. Things cook twice as fast when they’re half as thick.
Easy “french dip” sandwich. Even though it has a girly name, the large amount of meat should make it OK for bachelors:
1 highclass hotdog bun (y’know, the ones shaped like hotdog buns but cost 1.79/pack rather than .99/pack)
1/4 - 1/2 pound roast beef sandwich meat from the deli
1 can beef broth
Cut the bun in half, throw either in the toaster oven or under the broiler for about a minute until it’s nice & toasty brown. Meanwhile, open can of beef broth, pour into small bowl. Nuke beef broth in microwave until hot. Nuke roast beef in microwave until hot. Put roast beef on high falutin’ hotdog bun. If you want to be really fancy, like if you have some wimmin coming over, cut it in half sorta diagonally and put toothpicks in both sides. Dip sandwich in beef broth before each bite.
katrina wrote:
Bah humbug. With instant rice, you can do it in 1/4 the time, and without any special hardware.
Oh yeah… that’s my idea of a cool way to be remembered- design something really cool & manly like the Cobra, and then also show another side by making something less overwhelmingly masculine like food recipes.
I must be the oddball of the group about toaster ovens. I love mine! Great for baked spuds (microwaves steam them); sprinkle a chicken breast w/ olive juice, some herbs, a rub or whatever and broil away; great for bagels; makes great nachos.
For baked potatoes:
Wash spuds, dry, prick several times with a knife. (Don’t forget; they’ll explode if you don’t.) Place directly on wire racks in oven (350 for an hour or so). When they’re done they’ll squish a little when you squeeze them.
Do NOT wrap in foil; they steam instead of bake, and get gluely inside.
Split and top with whatever: butter, sour cream, warmed lefotover veggies or meat, chili, hot peppers, olives, mounds of grated cheese, tabasco…(no, not all at the same time!) Great easy meal, w/ only about 2 minutes prep time.
Veb
To grill potatoes:[ul]Wash as many potatoes as you intend to prepare. Spear them several times with a fork (exploded potatoes are messy and hard to eat). Smear the outside of the potato(es) with shortening, lard, butter, or (easiest) spray with some PAM™. The oil on the outside seals in the moisture and crisps up the skin. Wrap in aluminum foil.
Ensuring the grill is hot, put the potatoes on and close the lid. Depending on the size of the potato, it will take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to fully cook a medium-sized spud. Serve with butter, salt, pepper, sour cream, ranch dressing, or whatever you usually like to put on potatoes.
Serve a rare-to-medium rare steak on the side.[/ul]This recipe works reasonably well for corn, too, as long as you peel back the shucks and remove the silks. Oil or grease is probably not necessary, and you don’t have to worry that the corn will explode, but you might want to soak the corn in water before grilling it. You’ll have to experiment because corn doesn’t seem to take as long as potatoes. I’ve done this once with corn and it turned out pretty good.
A good marinade for steaks is Newman’s Own™ Olive Oil and Garlic salad dressing (if anyone can suggest other brands that are really good, let me know). It doesn’t burn like other salad dressings and adds a lot of good flavors. Worchestershire sauce is a good steak marinade, too. Never, ever use fat-free salad dressing as a marinade. It blackens and burns too easily.
~~Baloo