Still Faster in the Kitchen (Kitchen Tips part 2)

Hello! I’m sorry it’s been so long… I’ve been knee-deep in a job search and contract work, and unfortunately Seattle Palate has taken the hit. But I have been blah-blah-blogging up a storm and have a whole list of posts just for you. (If you’re so inclined, check out my new blog post on my professional website on 10 Ways to Generate New Blog Traffic.)

Onto the matter at hand. I have the second half of those great Kitchen Tips that are going to make us all more efficient in twenty-ten. But. First I have to tell you that even though it’s only mid-January, I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel known as the Seattle winter. And it’s called tulips.

These gorgeous red tulips were exactly $4 at the Ballard Market. Can you believe that? They give me comfort that one day the gray will lift and the Emerald City will spring back to life. Perhaps that’s a bit over the top, but seriously one of the best things about living in Seattle is the amazing selection of fresh flowers that you can buy at the many farmers’ markets 10 months out of the year. The Skagit Valley (just north of Seattle) supplies the vast majority of tulip bulbs sold in the United States, and each year the valley hosts a month-long celebration. The Tulip Festival runs for the all of April, and there are dozens and dozens and dozens of acres of blooms colored so vividly your eyes can barely believe it.

As you might imagine, SUE! has a landscaped yard that would give any tulip-grower a run for his or her money. So when I first moved to Seattle, she hopped right on a plane to come visit this botanical spectacle. Unfortunately, mother nature had very different ideas. Oh, the blooms were magnificent, but it was so cold out that no one really had any interest in gazing at them. But that trooper SUE! piled on every article of clothing she (and most of what my Dad) packed, and we braved the cold. And we were wowed indeed; if you’re ever in Seattle in April, put the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival on your “must-see” list.

Then it started to snow. And the more people said “Oh, it NEVER snows in Seattle in April!” the harder it snowed. It was practically comical. No amount of hot chocolate and hand-warmers could do the trick. All in all, we got our fill of tulips, but perhaps this year the weather will be more hospitable.

One last thing about tulips before you get your kitchen tips. Tulip fun fact #42: they are the only flower that continues to grow after they are cut. Just trim the ends under water when you get home and keep the vase filled with fresh water, and your tulips will keep far longer than any other flower. You can see that they are still growing because your tight, even bouquet will start to look straggly as the stems snake and grow towards the light. Cool, huh?

At last, here are your Kitchen Tips. If you missed the first half of this list, be sure to read it here, Faster in the Kitchen in 2010! Enjoy!

1. Peel a pomegranate under water. It keeps the juice from squirting all over the place and the pith floats to the top.
2. To monitor a sauce as it reduces, stick the end of a wooden spoon into the sauce to measure where the sauce measures at the beginning. (The sauce will stain the spoon.) If the sauce needs to reduce in half, continue simmering until the finished sauce only measures half of the original mark.
3. Use plastic container lids as spoon rests.
4. When cracking an egg, sometimes shell fragments fall into the bowl. Use the egg shell half to pick them out – the shell pieces are attracted to each other.
5. To make perfect long-grained white rice, put your index finger on the top of the rice, add water until it reached your first knuckle. Bring to boil, put heat on low, cook 20 minutes, lid still on, let sit off burner for 10 minutes.
6. Toss your vegetable scraps into a freezer bag and when full, make a big pot of stock. Same goes for chicken bones and scraps.
7. For chopping nuts, put them in a plastic freezer size bag and use a rolling pin; it’s easier than a knife, and the bag contains all the nuts.
8. Use a binder clip on the side of a saucepan to hold a thermometer in place.
9. A dash of sugar mellows out overly spicy foods – useful when you’ve added too much heat or need just one serving to be a bit milder.
10. To heat small portions on the stove, use metal dry measuring cups as tiny sauce-pans.
11. Wrap thick rubber bands around the ends of your rolling pin to desired thickness before rolling out dough.
12. Score your pork chops twice across the fat to prevent curling.
13. Rub or spray oil on measuring spoons or cups before measuring sticky stuff like molasses and peanut butter. Makes ingredient extraction and cleanup much faster.
14. A quick way to tell whether eggs are fresh: if the shell is chalky and textured, the egg is fresher. Older eggs will be shinier.
15. To halve grapes or cherry tomatoes, sandwich the them between two plastic container lids, and slice parallel to the work surface for a quick and easy cut.

Faster in the Kitchen in 2010! (Kitchen Tips)

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season (and your pants still fit). Despite the efforts of Mother Nature and her nasty Nor’Easter storm that dumped a record 26″ of snow on South Jersey, I did finally make it back to the east coast after 4 days, 8 flight schedule changes, 4 layovers, and 17 hours in transit. 3,160 miles in the air, which amounts to practically 1000 extra air miles traveled. (OH, I checked.)  The point is, I made it there.

And I’m back in Seattle now, just in time for New Year’s. I have to admit that I’m not a NYE nut; I guess it’s nice to celebrate the passing of time. But we all know that it’s really a holiday meant to guilt everyone into making token resolutions about self-improvement. I’d love to know how long the average resolution lasts? 5 weeks? 5 days? 5 minutes??

Anyway, in an effort to avoid being labeled a NYE scrooge, I made my list. And here it is:

1. Read 2 books a month. (cookbooks don’t count.)
2. Master my new pasta maker.
3. Run in two more marathons.
4. Quit dawdling in the kitchen!!

Actually I’m sure I could come up with a much longer and more ambitious list, but that will just have to do to appease all you NYE resolution makers out there. And actually, unless someone uses their resolution power for good and figures out a way to make each day a few hours longer, #4 could be huge. You see, the problem is, time seems to stop when I step into the kitchen. I could spend hours in there and never know it. I’m 100% convinced that slowly stirring a pot of something delicious on the stove slows down the hands of time. It’s how I detox and unwind from a crazy-hectic day.

The problem is, this means I regularly eat dinner at 9:30. And it’s not because I’m making elaborate meals, it’s because I’m a slow poke. SO. You can imagine my delight to find a contest on Michel Ruhlman’s blog for a signed copy of his newest book (co-authored with Thomas Keller) Ad Hoc at Home. Actually it wasn’t the prize that got me going (though who wouldn’t love a copy?), it was the submission requirement: your favorite Kitchen Tip. Ruhlman ended up with over 1000 comments! Now approximately half of them were to save parmesan rinds in the freezer to add to soups and sauces (which if you’re a dedicated Seattle Palate reader you already know!), but there were some gems in the long list. And while I can’t say that I actually each and every one of them, I read an awful lot of them.

In hopes of increasing YOUR kitchen efficiency in twenty-ten, here are my favorites from Ruhlman’s list. You’ll have to check back later this week for part 2 of the list because it was too long to post. If you have a favorite tip that isn’t here, leave it in the comments. Maybe we can come up with another 1000 to add to the list! Enjoy!

1. Use a box grater to grate frozen butter for biscuits and pastry doughs – much easier and more effective than cutting in the butter. Also works with cold butter when a recipe calls for room temp.
2. Store your pepper grinder in a ramekin on the counter – loose grinds will be contained instead of all over the counter.
3. Use your microwave as a bread box. It’s a perfect use of space for those of us in urban environments, and it’ll keep your bread, chips, etc. fresh.
4. Over salt a sauce or soup? Drop a peeled potato sliced in half in – it will absorb salt.
5. Cover the stand mixer with a wet towel to catch the flour from flying over the kitchen.
6. Place damp cloth under cutting board so it doesn’t slip when using.
7. Use a bundt pan to slice corn off the cob. Use the pan’s hole as a holder for the corn while slicing off the kernels – which fall directly into the bundt pan.
8. Peel and freeze extra ripe bananas to use later for smoothies or banana bread.
9. Stick corks under the uninsulated top handles of pots – you’ll be able to grab the hot lids without burning yourself.
10. For a little extra counter space, open a drawer and lay a cutting board across it.
11. Ditch the sifter and use a food storage container instead – put all the dry ingredients in, cover tightly with the lid, and shake like mad.
12. Roll citrus fruits under your hand on the counter top to soften them up for juicing.
13. To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, place them a bowl with warm water for about ten minutes.
14. Trim herbs using kitchen shears directly over a pot or a dish – no messy cutting board to clean up.
15. After lightly spraying the bottom of a cake pan, spray a large round coffee filter flattened out to line the bottom of a cake pan. Easy clean up and peels right off bottom of cake.
16. When spraying non-stick spray in a pan, place pan over the open dishwasher door so that mis-sprays land on the inside of the door and are washed away with your next dishwasher cycle.
17. Toss a pinch of kosher salt on the garlic you’re mincing, it will help break it down faster, especially if you drag the flat of the knife back and forth every few (dozen) chops, and adds traction so it’s easier to chop.
18. When canning at home with a hot water bath, sanitize and keep the cans hot by putting them through a dishwasher cycle with no soap. This eliminates the step of boiling the cans right before you fill them and keeping them warm. Simply leave them in the dishwasher until your food is ready to be canned, and the cans will be clean and warm, ready to use.
19. When making gravy, speed up the fat separation step by slipping a few ice cubes into the separator. The melting ice will chill the mix quickly, moving the fat to the top. The floating cubes and the resulting water will stay on top and the good stuff pours out clean.
20. After boiling pasta or potatoes, cool the water and use it to water your house plants. The water contains nutrients that your plants will love it.

Picking Eggplants (Kitchen Tips)

Even though the ingredients make it a summer dish, I’ve been craving the rich, stewy, deliciousness of some ratatouille lately, and decided to make it the other night. (Recipe to come, and believe me, you won’t want to miss it!) Eggplant isn’t exactly in season at the moment, but it’s readily available at the grocery store year-round. And I am nuts about it. I love its meaty yet light texture, and the hint of bitterness that makes your lips itch. Roasted with olive oil, grilled in a sandwich, fried in eggplant parmesan, or pureed in baba ganoush – it doesn’t matter. I love it all.

Especially when not in prime season, picking the perfect eggplant is particularly important. If you end up with a bad one, it can be bitter, and the flesh can soak up liquids  yielding a soggy mess.

Here are a few pointers:

• Look for deep, dark purple skin that is tight and shiny.
• A green stem indicates freshness, it will brown as it ages.
• Pick an eggplant that feels heavier than it looks – heavier means more moisture, which equals a fresher piece of fruit. It also can mean less seeds and more flesh.

There’s one more thing – and this is up for debate – but I’ve always had luck when abiding by it. A lot of people say that there are male and female eggplants, and the females have more seeds. Since an eggplant’s bitterness comes from the seeds, no matter what the gender, the fewer seeds the better. So look for the boys.

How does one, huh hmm (clears throat), sex an eggplant? Well if you look at the end opposite the stem, there’s a belly button looking notch. If it’s a female eggplant, it will be oval shaped and a bit larger. If it’s a male eggplant, it will be a small, circular notch. If you take a peek at the picture above, the eggplant at the top right is a female, and the one next to it in the middle of the top row is a male.

So take that for what it’s worth. My boy Alton taught me that trick, and it’s never let me down!

Seattle Palate’s Last Minute Gifts for Cooks

Are you panicking? I am. Sure, the tree is trimmed, decorations out, cards in the mail. BUT. I have barely put a dent in my shopping list!! I do this every single year, even though I swear that this year will be different. Oh well. I get such a kick out of the news reports on TV where they interview people at the mall the weekend before Christmas – those pesky “last minute shoppers.” Are you kidding me? I am lucky if I’ve got anything figured out by the weekend before the big day!

I have enormous holiday shoes to fill. SUE! puts Martha Stewart to shame this time of year. Her tree was up and trimmed BEFORE Thanksgiving. If you want to request a gift, she needs the list by Labor Day because you most certainly will not find her in the mall the weekend before Christmas. She’s off hosting Toys for Tots drives and baking 18 dozen cookies for her annual cookie exchange.

And then, there’s THE VILLAGE. She has a Dickens Village that spans three 6” long tables, and has two different levels. It takes my Dad a week to set the tables up and secure the electric grid in their house to be able to withstand the additional surge. SUE! spends days meticulously setting it up – each little caroler in his place, each animal secured in the barnyard, each ice skater’s laces tied up. It’s a sight, believe me. Perhaps this year when I’m home I’ll snap a few pictures to show you. Don’t worry, SUE! has masking tape “X”s on the floor at the optimal Village viewing spots.

The good news is, this Village obsession makes shopping for SUE! a breeze. Those Department 56 people have it figured out – release new stuff each year and these fanatical collectors (or their last-minute shopper kids) will buy it.

Well just in case you are stumped for what to buy, and a Department 56 Village just won’t do, I offer a few of my favorite kitchen essentials for the foodie on your list (in no particular order). Many of these are tried and true staples of my kitchen. Some are too cute to pass by for the cook who already has everything. And some I’m just lusting over. (Santa, hopefully you’re a Seattle Palate reader!) Enjoy, and happy shopping!

Microplane Classic Series Zester ($12.95): This is a must-have in any kitchen. I use mine literally every day. It’s perfect for zesting citrus fruits, or grating hard cheeses (like parm), spices (like nutmeg and cinnamon), and other small things that need to be cut up into a fine pulp (like garlic and ginger). They’re easy to use, easier to clean, and last forever.

Flavored Sea Salts ($5 – 6 per ounce from Secret Stash Salt): Flavored sea salts can add a really wonderful touch to everyday dishes. Secret Stash Salt is the go-to sea salt source in Seattle. (say that three times fast!) With flavors like truffle, lavender rosemary, soy, and apple 5 spice, it’s easy to infuse exotic flavors into your dishes. Sea salt is less processed that regular table salt, and it adds more texture and flavor than iodized salt. At only $5, these salts are a fun way to try new flavors.

Chop & Chop Flexible Cutting Boards ($7.95): These plastic cutting boards are super functional – you can chop up a bunch of ingredients, roll up the edges and slide everything right into the pan. Plus they hold up well in the dish washer and maintain their flat shape (unlike many of the thinner plastic cutting boards that tend to roll). I never seem to have enough clean cutting boards, and these are space and time savers. And they’re incredibly cheap!

OXO Gravy Separator ($14.99): I’m a devoted disciple to Alton Brown’s rule that there can be no uni-taskers in your kitchen drawers. But I’m willing to fudge just a bit for this gravy separator. It’s great for removing the fat off stocks, sauces, and gravies, and is just too darn convenient to not love. It has a built-in strainer, plus a stopper for the spout so the hot oil doesn’t splash all over you. Plus it doubles as a measuring cup, and who doesn’t need another one of those?

Le Creuset Dutch Cast-Iron Oven ($185): OK, this one is a little spendy, but worth every single penny. A high quality enameled cast-iron dutch oven will become your favorite cooing vessel overnight. It distributes heat slowly and evenly, and is perfect for soups, stews, sauces, braises, to sweet dishes. Le Creuset pieces have a lifetime warranty, so even though it’s a steep price tag, if you do a lot of cooking, you’re going to get your money’s worth.

Cutest Aprons you’ve ever seen ($28 – $35): Anthropology has a line of aprons that even Carrie Bradshaw would love! Perfect for dinner party nights when you can’t possibly cover yourself up with any old apron.

Beater Blade Stand Mixer Paddle Attachment ($25 – $30) I haven’t used one of these, but I’m hoping to find one in my stocking this year. This attachment replaces the paddle for your stand mixer. It has wiper blade-like squeegies on the sides of the paddle that continuously scrape down the contents of your mixing bowl. It also incorporates the dry ingredients at the very, very bottom of your mixer bowl – where they usually clump around the dimple only to surprise you later on. The reviews have been pretty good for the Beater Blade, though it will heat up the motor of your stand mixer faster, so if you need to beat something for an extended period of time, use the regular paddle attachment.

Heritage Bundt Pan ($34): This is a great gift for a cook who has everything – less utilitarian, more pretty. I’ve had this pan for a while, and think it makes the most gorgeous cakes. It’s a thick aluminum coated pan that cooks evenly and leaves every cake with a gorgeous, golden crust. The pan has a great non-stick finish; just a bit of cooking spray and the cake releases with ease.

Subscription to Cooks Illustrated ($24.95/year): This is the best educational cooking magazine out there. I’d go out on a limb here and say that you will learn more about navigating the kitchen by reading this magazine than by watching any TV show or reading any other publication. No fluff, no pretty food-porn pictures; just easy-to-read articles with fool-proof recipes.

Bodum French Coffee Press ($29.95+): I love a cup of french pressed coffee – it’s rich, silky, and creamy. Drip coffee will never get you out of bed after drinking a cup of french pressed java. And a single-cup press can be convenient for those times when you don’t need a whole pot sitting around, getting stale and cold. They come in many sizes, and even built into go-mugs. I have the Chambord and love it every day.

A Good, Scary-Sharp Chef’s Knife ($100+): It is so true – cooking is easier with a good knife. Cutting is easier, neater, and faster. And I actually cut myself less since switching from a cheap chef’s knife to a high quality one. SM bought me a Shun Kaji chef’s knife a while ago and if our house ever catches on fire, this is the first possession I’m taking with me. If you’re going to spend any serious time in the kitchen, consider purchasing a well made, well balanced chef’s knife and getting comfortable with it. When shopping for a knife, you really do need to hold it in your hand to find the right one, so head into Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table – they both have extensive selections.

Rouxbe subscription ($99 a year): Rouxbe.com (pronounced roo-bee) is an online cooking school. They have volumes and volumes of well produced, clear web videos for different cooking skills, as well as accompanying recipes. Each is easy to understand and follow along with. It really is like having a culinary school chef in your kitchen with you! They release one free lesson each day, but for un-restricted access, you can purchase a yearly subscription. Pretty cool!

Better Ice Cubes (Kitchen Tips)

Hey Kids! Just a quickie for you today because it’s the holidays and I’m busy as a bee getting ready. Of course I’m never too busy to make chicken stock, and I just cooked up a big pot of it the other day. I ended up with about 15 cups of the liquid gold, and it’s neatly Tupperware-ed up in quart increments in the freezer for easy access.

The thing is, so often you only need ¼ cup of chicken stock, and it’s a waste to thaw out a big container of it (or pop a full can or carton). So when I make stock, I freeze a few ice cube trays filled with the broth. When frozen, simply transfer them to a zip-top bag. (Just be sure to stick the ice cube trays straight into the dishwasher or else you end up with broth-flavored water ice cubes in your iced tea. Not delicious.) I measured my ice cube trays, and know that each ice cube is 2 tablespoons. Then when I need just a tablespoon or two for a pan sauce or dinner recipe, I can grab the equivalent in stock cubes and thaw.

This trick works great with all sorts of leftovers from apple juice to tomato paste. You can even freeze berries in juice or water to make fancy party ice cubes for iced tea or summery drinks. So get cubing!