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I figure there should be a food thread for every 4-5 threads on homosexuality -- so were due.
This thread is for Jatraqueros to share their favorite food tips -- stuff that makes cooking a bit better and/or easier. Stuff for people who cook but who aren't major gourmands.
Here are some of mine:
1. When you make pizza or anything that uses melted mozzarella cheeze, grate the cheese and then mix it with a bit of olive oil and fresh ground black pepper and let it sit for 10 minutes or so before incorporating it into the recipe. It really helps the flavor of your standard, supermarket variety mozz.
2. Buy one of those whole rottisserie chickens from Costco or supermarket or Boston Market, use the meat however you want to, but save the bones, skin and fat and then cook it up in a big pot and then drain off the stock and freeze it. It won't be super-low sodium stock (because most places seriously brine the chickens before they roast them), but it'll be a quite tasty thing to use in making soups, risotto, etc.
Also: I boil the stock down a bit so that it takes up less room in the freezer -- just dilute it with water when you want to use it.
3. If you cook beans -- don't add salt until the beans are completely coooked. Salt has a tendency to keep the beans from becoming tender. In fact, I don't even add salt to the beans at all. I add salt after I've dished up.
4. Want to add some flavor to an omelet? Peel a garlic, give it a good whap with your knife to crush it and then toss it in the frying pan with oil or butter [and really, you should use butter]. Heat the oil just as you would normally to make an omelet. When it's ready, remove the garlic and add your eggs, etc. Make sure to remove the garlic before it turns dark brown or your oil may taste slightly bitter.
5. When baking, unless there are a lot of other flavors involved, add 2-3 times more vanilla extract than the recipe calls for. If you can afford real vanilla and don't use extract, then get the heck out of my thread you upper-class foodie snob.
6. Don't turn your nose up at recipes that use crushed corn flakes.
7. Polenta is a pain to make on the stovetop -- bake it instead. It comes out just as good and requires much less effort. If you use the Golden Pheasant variety of polenta there is a recipe for baked polenta on the package.
8. If you are cooking with apples, it almost never hurts to use a little lemon juice in the recipe -- and usually it makes it a little better.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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When making lasagne or manicotti, do not pre-cook the noodles. Just layer them in the pan, or stuff them with the cheese filling and add a little extra water to your sauce and bake a few minutes longer. It saves water, time and keeps your hands from getting burned. Also, the dish is usually far less runny, and trying to stuff cooked manicotti is all but obscene.
I've completely stopped using meat in my pasta dishes (also mexican dishes like enchiladas). I use firm tofu instead. Press out most of the water, and mix it with the cheeses (and mushrooms and spinach for pasta) and spices of the filling. I'm not a vegetarian, but this just isn't a good time to be eating beef (think BSE) or poultry (avian influenza) - not that you can get the flu from eating the chickens, but if things continue the way they're going, there's bound to be a shortage soon, with the resultant price increases. We've been eating more vegetarian entrees and fish lately (although there are hazards to fish as well... )
Use olive oil exclusively in italian cooking. It makes a huge difference and is well worth the extra cost. Be generous with it in breads and pizza doughs.
Sesame oil is a good choice for oriental cooking. And ALWAYS use fresh ginger. It's cheap. You can find it in any grocery store, and it makes a world of difference. mmmmm
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Time out. You make your own chicken stock, eat risotto and polenta, and you’re calling me a foodie snob because I use real vanilla?!?
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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My personal favorite: When making fried rice, after the the rice is finished cooking, put in the fridge until cooled then proceed to frying the hell out of it. This is an amazing trick and it makes a HUGE difference in how the rice tastes.
I eat a lot of rice, must've been Chinese in a past life.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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I'm just bitter, dana. I would love to be in a position where I could afford to use real vanilla. I'm just not there quite yet.
And the common denominator of the item you mention is that they can all be done very cheeply (unless you use some obscenely expensive arborio rice for the risotto).
Okay: new threshold -- do you own and regularly use black truffle oil? If so, please leave this thread. If not, you're cool by me.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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1. Don't defrost meat in a microwave. Ideally, pull the meat out the night before and let it defrost overnight in the fridge. Or, place it in cold water. I usually just fill up my sink with cold water and let the meat defrost in it.
2. If your pasta tends to be sticky, add a small dash of olive oil to the water when you boil it. Just a dash is fine.
3. If you can afford the large initial money outlay, buy beef from a local rancher. You usually save money in the long run, because they usually charge by the total pound, instead of charging by cut. You essentially get filet mignon cuts for the same price as ground beef. Most importantly, you get good quality beef (assuming you've checked out the rancher.) We buy beef that is free range until the last month, when it's exclusively corn fed. The meat is wonderful, and the fat content is a lot lower than what you find in the supermarket.
4. Make your own salad dressings. It's very easy and you can control the ingredients. Oil and vinegar with a little Italian seasoning is wonderful.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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It comes to me already frozen and wrapped. We go pick it up from the butcher that the rancher uses. We take a bunch of coolers, load it all up, bring it home and put it in our chest freezer.
We buy about three times a year. So, 1/2 a cow lasts us around four months.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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It's important to check out the rancher, though. You don't want 500 lbs. of sage fed beef, for instance.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I like the microwave methode for making mac and cheese. Draining is such a drag. We made a double batch on the stove the other day with 6 cups of water, and it came out like a microwave batch. I wonder if it would work on the stove with 3 cups of water.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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My favorite food thing, for those who cook a lot of Asian food.
When you cook jasmine rice, it needs way more water than your other rices. Don't steam it if you aren't familiar with it. You should boil it like pasta. Don't rinse it first. 1. Boil water, twice as much as you would normally use. 2. Add rice and boil it until the ends of the rice start to fork in two. 3. Taste it to make sure it's not getting soggy. 4. Take it out a couple minutes before it gets as soft as you'd like it, it will keep cooking in its heat. 5. Drain it. When you serve it, scoop gently across the top instead of digging in.
Sounds complicated but it's worth it if you like PERFECT jasmine rice. Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Of course, I don't love Alton Brown when my husband talks continuously throughout the show telling me to pay attention and "you can do this!" Hurumph. I counter with "so can YOU!"
We have both used many of Alton Brown's techniques, actually, and he is the reason we bought our digital probe thermometer and our immersion blender. Yay Alton Brown!
Posts: 1545 | Registered: May 2002
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Cut your vegetables with a chef knife. Don't own a chef knife? Get one. It's the big one with the curved edge. Cut vegetables by rocking the knife on a board, not chopping. Sharpen it between every use, preferably. Sharpen by slicing at a ~45 degree angle on a rod sharpener like you're slicing off slivers of wood. Do about 3 times on each side (I alternate?), getting even use of the entire length of the knife.
When baking cookies, I like to use two spoons to make mounds. Use one to spoon dough, and the other to scoop the dough off the first.
Learn to bake bacon =). It's really much better than pan frying. I don't remember the specifics, but you put it on a sheet in the oven for about 10 minutes. It crispens equally!
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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To add to Suneun's bacon baking suggestion, I put it on a rack so all of the grease falls to the bottom of the cookie sheet. Additionally, I line the cookie sheet with foil so it's easy to clean up afterwards. I bake it at 450*.
Oh, and Alton Brown says to put the bacon in before the oven is heated, so that everything stays together. Put the bacon in, THEN turn the oven to 450*.
I love this thread. *happy smile*
Posts: 1545 | Registered: May 2002
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Alton Brown
