Cooking Hints & Tips Archive 32
Cooking Tip: Zucchini are a variety of summer squash. They are tender and tasty when young, but most varieties are tasteless when large and overgrown.
Cooking Tip: When buying zucchini, look for squash that are firm and heavy for their size. Do not wash until ready to use.
Cooking Tip: Peeling zucchini before use is not necessary and the skin is thin and very fragile.
Cooking Tip: Mild bitterness in zucchini, like that in related species like cucumbers, may be result from environmental factors such as high temperature, low moisture, or low soil nutrients.
Cooking Tip: Zucchini blossoms may be battered and deep fried, or cut into strips and used in omelettes or soups.
Cooking Tip: Bacon is cured and smoked pork. In the U.S. pork bellies are used, Canadian bacon is made from the rib eye of boneless pork loin, and most European countries use the thigh or shoulder meat to make bacon.
Cooking Tip: Regular sliced bacon is 0.062 inches thick (1/16 inch) or 16 - 20 slices per pound. Thin sliced bacon is 0.031 inches thick (1/32 inch) or 28 - 35 slices per pound, and thick sliced bacon is 0.111 inches thick (1/8 inch) or 12 - 14 slices per pound.
Cooking Tip: An opened package of bacon keeps for about 1 week. Unopened vacuum sealed packages of bacon will keep in the freezer for about a month before the fat begins to oxidize and turn rancid.
Cooking Tip: Blanch heavily salted bacon in boiling water for a minute before using in recipes to reduce the amount of salt in the bacon.
Cooking Tip: Mainz ham is a German ham that is brined, soaked in brandy or wine lees, or a mixture of both, and then smoked for a long period.
Cooking Tip: Berries should be dry, firm, well shaped, and eaten within a week after purchase.
Cooking Tip: Stay away from containers of berries with juice stains which may be a sign that the berries are crushed and possibly moldy.
Cooking Tip: After purchasing berries, check the fruit and toss out any moldy or deformed berries. Immediately eat the overripe berries within 24 hours.
Cooking Tip: Because berries have a short shelf life, an alternative to enjoy them year round is to buy them fresh and freeze them yourself.
Cooking Tip: Unbaked yeast dough can be frozen. It is best to freeze it before the final rising period. Let it rise the first time, punch it down and shape into the desired shape and then freeze. Thaw it at room temperature for 3 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
Cooking Tip: The rainbow of iridescent color seen on slices of ham is caused by light refraction on the fat film on the ham slice. It does not indicate the ham is old, or spoiled.
Cooking Tip: Goose, an all dark-meat poultry product, has a cholesterol level on a par with roasted chicken, or canned salmon.
Cooking Tip: Prick the skin of duck all over with a sharp fork or point of a knife so the fat just under the skin drains while cooking.
Cooking Tip: Always cook duck on a rack so it doesn't fry in it's own drippings.
Cooking Tip: Juices from the turkey will baste the meat as it cooks. For added moisture, pour 1/2 cup water in the bottom of the pan and brush the turkey with oil or butter and seasonings.
Cooking Tip: Butter absorbs odors very easily and quickly, so keep well covered in the refrigerator.
Cooking Tip: Butter can be frozen with no texture or quality problems. To freeze butter, mold into squares, patties or other desired shapes, and wrap tightly in aluminum foil, transparent film or freezer paper, or seal in moisture-vapor resistant containers.
Cooking Tip: Whipped Butter is regular butter into which air or nitrogen gas has been whipped to increase its volume. Because its density or weight is not the same as an equal measure of butter, it should not be used as a substitute for regular butter in most recipes. Whipped butter spreads easier and melts quicker than regular butter.
Cooking Tip: Bay leaves are very strong when they are fresh. Use one leaf per gallon of liquid.
Cooking Tip: Bay Leaves are often described as tea-like, and are characterized by a green, woody and astringent flavor. They have a pleasant, slightly minty menthol aroma.
Cooking Tip: Native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean, there are hundreds of different types of mint. Chocolate, black peppermint, apple and basil are just a few of the many multiple varieties.
Cooking Tip: Mint has a lovely, fresh fragrance with hints of lemon, peppermint, and vanilla.
Cooking Tip: Mint's taste is sharp, sweet and warm with a cooling aftertaste.
Cooking Tip: Characterized by its beautiful textured green leaves and reddish steams, mint serves as a nice ground cover for the garden.
Cooking Tip: Bunches of mint stored in a glass of water will keep fresh for 2 ?€“ 7 days. Mint can also be stored in the refrigerator, dry, wrapped in a plastic bag for a week.
Cooking Tip: Piney, terpeney and citrus-like aromatics combine with sweet and bitter tastes to provide Nutmeg with its distinctive flavor.
Cooking Tip: Nutmeg is unique among spice plants, producing two distinct spices. The seed is dried, shelled and sold either whole or ground as the spice Nutmeg. The outer fleshy network is also dried and ground producing the spice know as Mace.
Cooking Tip: Nutmeg is used in cakes, confections, eggs, cheese, meat dishes, sausages, sauces, vegetables, and in eggnog and several cocktails and punches.
Cooking Tip: California oranges have a relatively thick skin compared to Florida oranges. This thicker skin helps protect them from the dry climate in the West.
Cooking Tip: Oranges do not ripen after they are picked, but lemons do.
Cooking Tip: Carob has enjoyed increased popularity in recent years as a low-fat, low-calorie, low-caffeine alternative to chocolate.
Cooking Tip: Carob itself does not contain any caffeine. However, it does contain traces of theobromine and theobromine is occasionally added to carob. Theobromine is related to caffeine, but it is a milder stimulant.
Cooking Tip: One hundred grams of carob contains no caffeine and only three milligrams of theobromine; 100 grams of chocolate contains 180 milligrams of caffeine and 2,320 milligrams of theobromine.
Cooking Tip: Because of the small amounts of the caffeine related theobromine, and because carob is sometimes used in combination with chocolate, most sources call carob a low caffeine alternative to be on the safe side.
Cooking Tip: Cocoa butter is one of the ingredients used to make real chocolate, it is gives chocolate the ability to remain solid at room temperature, yet melt easily in the mouth.
Cooking Tip: It is best to deep-fry a turkey that is less than 14 pounds. If you are frying a turkey over 15 pounds, make sure to separate the leg and thigh pieces from the breast and fry them separately.
Cooking Tip: Do not stuff your turkey when deep-frying. Cook the stuffing separately in the oven.
Cooking Tip: Your turkey is done when the meat thermometer reaches 180 degrees deep in the thigh. At this temperature, juices should be clear, not reddish pink, when thigh muscle is pierced deeply.
Cooking Tip: Your turkey is done when the meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees in the center of the stuffing, if turkey is stuffed. When the stuffed turkey is done, remove turkey from the oven and let the turkey with stuffing stand 15 minutes.
Cooking Tip: When preparing a whole breast of turkey, insert oven-safe meat thermometer deep into thickest part of the breast, not touching the bone.
Cooking Tip: Persimmons are widely available September through December, with a peak during November.
Cooking Tip: Choose persimmons with deep red undertones. Look for persimmons that are round, plump, and have glossy and smooth skin. Avoid fruits with blemishes, bruises or cracked skin and missing the green leaves at the top.
Cooking Tip: Select ripe persimmons only if you plan to eat them immediately. Otherwise, buy firmer fruits and allow them to ripen.
Cooking Tip: Ripen persimmons at room temperature in a paper bag with an apple or banana. Store them in the refrigerator when ripe. Be sure to eat the fruit as soon as possible because overripe persimmons quickly turn to a mushy texture.
Cooking Tip: Ripe Fuyu persimmons, which look kind of like flattened tomatoes, will be crisp, while ripe acorn-shaped Hachiyas will be very soft and juicy.
Cooking Tip: Select raspberries that are unblemished and dry, in an unstained container. Raspberries should be medium to bright red, depending on the variety.
Cooking Tip: Moisture will increase spoilage, so raspberries should be kept relatively dry.
Cooking Tip: The shelf life for raspberries is short, and they should be consumed within 2?€“3 days of purchase.
Cooking Tip: Eat raspberries at room temperature for fullest flavor.
Cooking Tip: A 12 ounce bag of whole frozen raspberries is equal to about 3 cups frozen berries.
Cooking Tip: Grapes do not continue to ripen after they have been picked. The easiest and best way to pick the freshest grapes is to hold a bunch by the stem. Shake gently - if the grapes are firmly attached, are plump and bright, they are fresh.
Cooking Tip: Store grapes in the coldest part of the refrigerator in a plastic bag. Wash them well before serving, but NOT before putting them in the refrigerator.
Cooking Tip: White or green grapes are sweetest when the color has a yellowish cast or straw color, with a tinge of amber.
Cooking Tip: Red grape varieties are better when good red predominates on all or most of the grapes.
Cooking Tip: Avoid soft or wrinkled grapes, or bunches of grapes with stems that are brown and brittle; these are the effects of freezing or drying.
Cooking Tip: Edamame, a shell bean, is also called an immature green soybean. The popularity of this bean has grown in the past decade and is now easily found frozen in most major supermarkets. Edamame is of Chinese origin and was developed in Japan especially for eating out of the pod. Edamame is a variation on the same yellow and black field soybean that is transformed into many popular soy products such as tofu, miso, and soymilk.
Cooking Tip: Edamame is the only vegetable that contains all nine essential amino acids. This makes edamame a complete protein source, similar to meat or eggs. Edamame also contains isoflavonoids.
Cooking Tip: Edamame is rarely sold fresh, but is available frozen all year.
Cooking Tip: To eat edamame beans right out of the shell, boil them until they are al dente (still slightly firm). Rinse to cool slightly, and season as desired. You can easily eat the al dente beans out of the shell.
Cooking Tip: Edamame beans may be shelled and added to other dishes, such as salads. Beans are easy to shell after they are boiled briefly.
Cooking Tip: Tarragon is used whole, chopped, and minced in cooking. Long cooking diminishes the aroma but the flavor will not be lost.
Cooking Tip: Raw peanuts in the shell can be stored in a cool, dry place for up to two months. Roasted peanuts in the shell do not keep as well as raw. They can be stored at room temperature, but for no more than one month.
Cooking Tip: Grapefruit is an excellent source of Vitamin C. One serving provides 80% of the recommended daily value for adults.
Cooking Tip: Watercress should be stored at 35°F. Keep moist and wrapped in plastic.
Cooking Tip: Buffalo meat will cook faster than beef because there is less fat. The key to cooking buffalo meat properly is to cook it slowly on low heat.
Cooking Tip: To make lighter and fluffier mashed potatoes, add a pinch or two of baking powder to the potatoes before whipping.
Cooking Tip: Cookie dough can be frozen up to three months in an airtight container or refrigerated three to four days.
Cooking Tip: Thaw frozen meat and poultry in the refrigerator and not on the kitchen counter where bacteria can grow.
Cooking Tip: Add a small amount of lemon juice to the artichoke cooking water to retain the color of the artichoke.
Cooking Tip: Buy mushrooms before they "open." When stems and caps are attached snugly, mushrooms are truly fresh.
