Alright, we all know little shortcuts and tips and tricks we use when cooking. These things are so fun, I thought I’d share a few of my not-very-secret shortcuts and get some back.
Pasta: when you boil your noodles, throw some olive oil in. It’ll prevent the noodles from sticking together, impart a great taste, and the water won’t boil over.
Bell peppers: To prep bell peppers, slice off the top of the pepper and pull out the core. Slice the body half, and then run your knife along the inside strip the white fillament crap and those pesky edges that prevent you from lying it flat on the table. Once you get the hang of it, you can have a bell pepper cut any way you want it from start to finish in less than a minute
Garlic: for some reason, a lot of people don’t know how to peel garlic. Just lay a knife flat over the clove and smash the little bugger. The skin will come right off and you’ll be ready for chopping in no time flat.
Broiling and roasting: Leave the oven door cracked a little. Ovens cycle on and off, and you want that heating element “on” the entire time you’re broiling. Leaving the door oven means it will have to stay on to compensate for the loss of temperature.
Mincing garlic- sprinkle with salt to act as grit to help you mince to a paste.
Thinly slicing raw beef (for a stir fry, for example)- briefly freeze the meat first.
Dicing an onion- cut onion in half. With flat side on the board, make a series of cuts parallel to the board towards (but not through) the root end. Now make a series of slices perpindicular to the board, the length of the onion. Now when you slice the onion from one end toward the root the pieces come off in little dices! It sounds complicated, butit is really easy after the first time.
Even shorter short cut. If you plan to saute the onion, you can omit the “parallel to the board” cuts. Cut in half, put flat part on the board. Cut from end to end, then perpendicular to that. When you saute it, the layers will fall apart on their own.
Oil in the water doesn’t do anything as far as sticking. It might impart some taste, but if you just drizzle the cooked noodles in oil you’ll have a better chance of it.
If you’re having problems with pasta sticking together, you’re not using enough water. Use a bigger pan and/or more water and your noodles will be fine.
It helps keep them from sticking together when you accidentally finish the noodles before the pasta is ready and you need to keep them covered (but dry).
I don’t use a serrated knife for tomatoes but I do always sharpen the knife I’m about to use. A sharp knife= nicely sliced tomatoes instead of smooshed 'maters.
Also, when chopping garlic, I always dampen my hands and knife with water so the garlic is less likely to stick to them.
Peeling hardboiled eggs. After the eggs have cooled (I throw them in icewater to hasten the cooling process) tap the ends of the eggs on the counter, then lightly tap the rest of the egg on the counter, making cracks all over. Then gently roll the egg on? Yep, the counter. Then, hold the egg under a lightly running faucet and peel. The shell won’t stick to the eggwhite and you’ll have a pretty hardboiled egg.
You know how it’s a pain in the ass to get tomato paste out of that little can? Run the can opener around BOTH ends, and push the one end out with the other one. Then you just have to pick off the can ends and there you go.
Forget chopping garlic. Get a really good garlic press.
Keep a box of good boxed wine around (or two, red and white - I like the Black Box ones) for cooking, if for nothing else - you can use as much or as little as you need, and it keeps for ages because of the vacuum.
Not to start (continue) a nitpick about this, but you should not add oil to the water. See here. Like Athena says, just make sure you have a large enough pot and plenty of water.
When you drain the pasta, don’t drain it bone dry, leave just a little water (also put some aside, in case needed, see link). Then dress it with oil. The sauce can then be added right after the oil, or for the first time or to individual preference at the table.
What I really meant to post (note adding some sauce before any oil):
Not to start (continue) a nitpick about this, but you should not add oil to the water. See here. Like Athena says, just make sure you have a large enough pot and plenty of water.
When you drain the pasta, don’t drain it bone dry, leave just a little water (also put some aside, in case needed, see link); this also helps if you finish the noodles before the sauce(?). Add some of your sauce so that it will stick to the pasta. Oil will prevent this. Then dress it with oil, if desired. More sauce can then be added right after the oil, or for the first time or to individual preference at the table.
I think most people know this one: when making sauce and pasta, if your sauce is too thin you can us the pasta water to thicken the sauce. The starch that is released into the water from the pasta boiling will make a weak slurry that you can use to thicken sauces.
To quickly and easily poach eggs without so much “feathering” from the whites: get a large microwave-safe bowl and put a quart of water in it. Crack eggs and with the surface of the egg just touching the surface of the water, open them and drop them into the water. Microwave on high for two minutes (YMWMV) or just until the whites set. You can also add a teaspon of distilled vinegar to the water to limit feathering as well. Eggs benedict anyone?
If you want a cheap solution to Tupperware, go to Smart & Final and buy bags of these. You can get them in 3 different sizes and they all have the same size lid. They are reusable as far as I’m concerned, super cheap, and freezable. It’s pretty much all I ever use these days.
Anytime you have leftover fresh ginger, toss the remaining piece into a jar full of vodka. When you gel and forget to buy some for your stir fry, IMHO it tastes pretty much like fresh.
If you have an egg in your fridge and you can’t remember whether it is raw or hardboiled, spin it like a top with a left finger holding it and flicking it with a right finger. If it spins, it’s hard boiled.
My technique for onions is to slice them into disks, stack them up and then make radial cuts.
My tips are about freezing. Take that hunk of leftover ginger and put it in a freezer bag and toss it in there. When you need a piece, just hack a piece off. It thaws very quickly, then you can peel and chop it. I wouldn’t use it without cooking, as it gets a bit mushy, but great for a stir-fry!
You can also freeze leftover tomato paste and sauce, when the recipe calls for just a tablespoon. I also use the food processor to grind up leftover french bread for fresh breadcrumbs. Toss 'em in the freezer. I also freeze leftover chipotles in adobo. Cut off about a tablespoon’s worth, thaw and chop. (I never seem to use the whole can!)
My big thing this weekend was to buy two pork loins (buy one get one free) and slice some boneless pork chops from one, along with some chunks for stir-fry. The other one I cut in half - left one whole for barbecue one of these days, and butterflied the other half for stuffing. We’re only a family of three, but it pays off to buy in bulk if you have the room in your freezer. (We have a small chest freezer. I love it!)
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