Tips and Tricks from the Professionals
Freezing
How can Gordon Ramsay find out if a food is frozen just by tasting it? Long-winded answer, but stay with me (please!). The best piece of octopus I ever ate was incredibly tender and flavorful. I asked the chef how he managed to make something so rubbery into something so wonderful. His answer: freeze and …
How can Gordon Ramsay find out if a food is frozen just by tasting it? Read More »
Whether you’re dealing with leftovers, or planning your meals ahead of time, there’s a better way to freeze your grains. Save your Tupperware for something else and reach for a plastic freezer bag instead. It might be tempting to scoop your grains into an airtight container, pop it in the freezer, and call it good, …
Best Way to Freeze Cooked Rice and Other Grains for Easier Reheating Read More »
Eggs last a while, but not forever. If you need to preserve yours a little longer, you can stick them in the freezer. Of course, you don’t want to just toss them in, shells and all. That’s where an ice cube tray can help. Use ice cube trays to hold each egg. You can also …
These little pods absorb the ethylene emitted by fruits and vegetables to keep them fresh up to 3x longer. Ethylene-producing Apricots Avocados Bananas Cantaloupes Honeydew melons Kiwis Mangoes Nectarines Papayas Peaches Pears Plums Tomatoes Ethylene-sensitive Apples Asparagus Broccoli Carrots Cucumbers Eggplants Green beans Lettuce and other greens Potatoes Summer squash Watermelons Michele Bender
The table below illustrates the Food Temperature Danger Zone and other key temperatures for safe food handling.And if you want to be able to measure temperatures, you’re going to need an instant-read thermometer. 165°F and higher: Most bacteria die within several seconds 141°F to 164°F: Holding hot foods and sauces. Bacteria aren’t killed, but they don’t multiply, either. …
It’s hard to use a thermometer on poultry. If you miss the right spot and hit air, you’ll get a low reading. If you hit bone you’ll get a high reading. Even on a turkey it’s tricky, so you have to trust the looseness of the joint, the appearance of the bird, and the appearance …
Freeze things flat and stack them. Whether it’s soups, stews, or ground meat, the flatter and wider you can get them, the faster they’ll freeze and defrost, which not only makes you more efficient, it also improves the quality of the food (the longer something takes to freeze, the more cellular damage it will suffer). …
The fastest way to defrost meat is under a cold running tap. But if you want to save water and speed things up a bit, place your meat on an aluminium or copper sheet tray or skillet. Aluminium and copper are great conductors of heat and will draw energy from the surrounding environment into your …
To peel one or two tomatoes run the back of a knife (or other dull utensils) over the skin, and the peel will lift right off. They’re don’t get heated at all, which is nice. To peel lots of tomatoes dip the tomatoes in boiling water for half a minute or so, then remove to …
Always make stock in a large quantity and freeze it in plastic bags. That way, when you want to make a nice soup or boil veggies, you can simply pull the bag out of the freezer.Charlie Trotter – Charlie Trotter’s, Chicago
Just cut in half and remove the seed. Wrap in saran wrap (a vacuum sealer is the best option if you have one) then place into a freezer safe container or bag. I have never kept mine more than three months so not sure how long they will keep. When you are ready to use …
A standard tip for freezing ground foods or thick sauces in small portions is to first put the food into a large freezer bag and press it out as flat as possible, eliminating air pockets. (Making it thin speeds up defrost time due to the increased surface area, and pressing out excess air guards against …