I don’t think it needs a lot of explanation, does it?
And consider young, inexperienced folks in your sharing. I forget sometimes that I’ve been on the planet for half a century and that I didn’t know at 25 all the stuff I know now, der.
So here’s a few:
Chicken:
Brine it, always brine it, no matter what you are doing with it. Keeps it moist and flavorful: 1quart water to 1/4 cup kosher salt and 1/8 cup sugar. If it’s a piece, an hour is fine, if it’s a whole chicken, go a couple. Rinse it well after you take it out if it has skin on it and was brined for a long time.
To get a crispy skin on a chicken or a turkey, dry the skin after you brine it and put it in the refrigerator uncovered for 12-24 hours to let the skin dry it out more. Then roast on high heat at least part of the time.
Skinless breast is much more palatable and interesting sliced thinly before cooking, horizontally, and the easiest way to do that is to partially freeze it or partially defrost, depending on your starting point.
And take all the warnings about raw chicken seriously. Be super-careful to clean everything it touches and everything you touch after touching it. If you ever get nailed wtih raw chicken cooties the way I did recently, you will be very sad.
Pit Olives fast: take a broad knife and lay it flat over the olive, then hit it with your fist. That splits the olive and exposes the pit to be easily plucked out.
Peel Garlic fast: Do the same thing you did to the olive! Only instead of giving you access to the inside, it makes the outside slip away easily.
**Make your Vacuum Sealer More Useful Less Expensively:**Vacuum sealing machines are a marvelous idea that can quickly become frustrating because of the bags, which are not cheap. Sometimes I have to really think about what’s more costly: the cheese I’m sealing, or the bag I’m using to seal it with?
I use the bags, but not that much. What I really get a lot of use from is the jar sealer! I have three sizes of (wide mouth only) Mason jars: quart, pint, and half pint, and I keep them busy. Here’s what I seal in the Mason jars with my vacuum sealer:
DRY GOODS:
Cereal
flours
grains
nuts
dried fruit
rice
crackers
chips
granola
and pretty much anything that can go rancid or stale, including (and this is the BEST!) OIL!!! I am one person, and I cannot finish a bottle of olive oil before it goes rancid ever. BUT, since rancidity is caused by exposure to oxygen… I pour my oil into a wide-mouth jar, seal it up and it keeps and keeps and keeps.
Perishables in the fridge:
any type of leftovers - put them in a vacuum sealed jar and you can add days…even weeks to their shelf-life, depending on what they are made of. And they retain their original characteristics much better than they do kept any other way.
Avocados - For the sheer “wow!” value, try slicing an avocado vac-sealing half in a jar. It will not go brown! If you leave it too long it will start to dull, but it does not brown the way it will normally. This is also true of guacamole.
Strawberries and other berries Vac-sealing in a jar stops the process of turning to mush and mold. The sugar content goes down over time, but the integrity of the berries holds up great.
Finallyt, back to the brining of the chicken: you can do it instantly with smaller pieces using the vac sealer. You can do it with any kind of marinade, actually: put the brine or marinade in the jar, then drop in a piece of meat, then seal the jar. The vacuum pulls the marinade into the meat, so you don’t have to wait at all!
Treat Your Veges Like Flowers: To keep broccoli, asparagus, brussels sprouts on the stem, or any other “stemmed” vegetable longer and fresher, treat them as though they are flowers: cut off the bottom half inch, then set the exposed tips down in an inch or two of fresh water. Change the water every day or two and you can make them last a good long time if you need to.
The Secret To Mashed Potatoes is for them to be sufficiently dry to allow them to absorb the butter and milk. You can boil the potatoes whole and peel afterwards, but I don’t find this to be as effective or simple as what I do: boil until JUST tender, drain, then put back in the pot over medium heat. Toss and stir and keep the potatoes moving constantly while the heat causes the moisture in the potatoes to steam off. You can see the potatoes getting drier and fluffier as you go. I even start mashing them over the heat, though I do it very fast and I’m careful to keep scraping the pot and keep the potatoes moving to avoid browning. When they are very fluffy and dry, I add the (warmed!) milk and butter. Makes all the difference in the world.
Okay, enough from me. Tell us your tips!
