Okay, here’s a tip I’ve known far too many people don’t get. Clean as you go. Fill up the sink with hot sudsy water and every time you use something while you’re cooking just dunk it in the water quick, clean it, rinse it and put it in the dish drainer. By the time you’re done cooking everything’s clean but what the food is actually in.
My sister-in-law (and she’s by far not the only one I’ve known) would practically drive herself to tears every night taking every single bowl & utensil out of the cupboards, messing them up and piling them all over every free space, then (here’s where the tears start) spend an hour or more after dinner cleaning everything up. Nuts to that. The kitchen’s clean by the time I turn the last burner off and yell “dinner’s ready!” I ain’t spending all that time cleaning up afterwards.
A curved, serrated, 10 inch, bread/utility knife should really be called a Waiter’s Knife. A handier all purpose knife, there is none. I’ve cut thousands of Loaves of Bread, lemons, limes, chives, scallions, avacadoes and tomatoes with just such a knife. I think it was a cheap sysco generic kitchen bread knife. It had a more pronounce scimitar curve compared to this Victorinox Breadknife. Very reliable multi-tasking knife… nothing at all like a ginsu…has a proper heft and thickness.
Just today, I ran across this post on a cooking blog, which claims that you can make any choice cut of meat taste like prime. It’s like brining without the water and for only an hour or less. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m looking forward to when I do.
For health properties or for flavor? This month’s Cook’s Illustrated says exactly the opposite–that the compound responsible for garlic’s flavor (allicin) starts to break down as soon as it is exposed to air, so getting the garlic into some oil ASAP will help preserve the flavor.
I use my hardboiled egg slicer to quickly slice mushrooms, strawberries, olives (without pits) - anything that’s too tiny to want to chop with a knife.
Wrap celery in tinfoil as soon as you get it home from the store. It lasts forever that way and doesn’t get droopy.
I don’t have boil overs, especially since I tend to boil pasta with a lid on it and my lids have the little vent holes. But when I put olive oil in there, the water doesn’t foam up as much to the top. As for using more water, I use as little as possible. More water = longer to boil = uses more gas = costs more money, it’s a lose/lose situation when using the amount I do works just fine.
I’m specifically recommending it for this dicing technique only, and it’s just because you really can’t push down pretty much at all and so it’s much, much easier with a serrated knife. If I’m slicing a tomato I use whatever knife I’ve already got out.
I also have to go with the “clean as you go” method, though I never wash dishes in a sink full of soapy water. I wash them with one of those sponge-on-a-handle things and then rinse under running water… the soap comes from the sponge.
I never pre-cook noodles before I make lasagna. Nor do I buy the noodles that advertise that you don’t need to pre-cook them. I just use regular old lasagna noodles and layer sauce on either side of them. The sauce boils while in the oven, which effectively cooks the noodles. Works like a charm.
Why on earth wouldn’t you? It’s still fat. We always use ground turkey for things like meatloaf, burritos, etc. (never for my hamburgers) but drain it.
As for draining fat, use an empty coffee can and keep it in the fridge, with the lid on. When it’s full, toss it. Never put it down the drain!
I’m surprised I haven’t seen this one out yet: have your mise en place! Especially if you’re making a recipe with a ton of little ingredients that all have to go in at once (so you can’t work on them between additions), get all of them ready before hand.
To do this effectively, get a bunch of little ramekins or custard dishes, since they’re small enough that you won’t lose your 1/4 tsp mustard powder, and can stack together once emptied. You can get them at a kitchen supply store, or even Wal-Mart, but really, the best place is garage sales, especially old people’s. (If you live close enough to Lacey, Washington that you’re willing to drive there, one of the large retirement communities, Panorama City, has a yearly patio sale that’s great for finding that sort of thing. Come early for best selection, late for cheapest pricest. Luckily there are no more Harry Potter books coming out so I’ll never again attempt to shop a cut-throat patio sale after an all-night reading extravaganza, but that’s another story.)
On the other hand, knowing when a mise en place is sort of overkill is important too- for example, I can debone the leftover roasted chicken while the vegetables are par-cooking, if I’m making chicken and dumplings- I don’t need it all ready before hand. It seems like a lot of TV chefs and cooks, besides the dread Rachel Ray and the lovely Nigella Lawson, want everything out and ready and fully prepped before they begin.
Does it cook them or just get them moist enough to eat? I mean, leave noodles in water long enough and they’ll be soft enough to eat, but they won’t be cooked.
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