Today’s tips are brought to you by the editors of Martha Stewart Living and their “Good Things for the Kitchen” special interest publication. I’ve been holding on to this magazine since Winter 2007, apparently. Well, you know Martha. She’s always full of great kitchen advice. (Notice, I said kitchen. I didn’t ask her for stock tips. Hey, she served her time. Leave her alone!)
Grating Ginger. If you recall, a couple of blogs ago I mentioned my brilliant idea of putting fresh ginger through a garlic press to save myself the hassle of having to mince it. Naturally, that didn’t work out so well. Martha suggests freezing the ginger before you grate it. This helps prevent the messiness of the fibers separating from the flesh. Ginger freezes very well – buy yourself a nice piece, wrap it tightly and store it for several months.
Bonus sub-tip… this also works for fresh mozzarella. Freeze for about 20 minutes, but no longer.Leafy Herbs. Isn’t chopping leafy herbs a pain, when all you want is the leaf and not the stem? Next time, try holding the bunch of herbs (such as parsley or cilantro) upside down, and using a chef’s knife in a short downward motion, strip the leaves from the stems.
Bonus sub-tip… those stems will come in handy when you want to add some flavor to soups and sauces. Think spaghetti sauce and chicken soup. But not together. That’s gross.Dusting a Pan for Chocolate Cake. This is one of my favorite tips. I actually first learned it from America’s Test Kitchen, so it’s probably not that big of a secret. But here it goes… when you grease and flour a pan for baking something chocolate – cake, brownies, what have you – use cocoa powder instead of flour. It’s just as effective, and won’t leave spots of white powder on your chocolate cake. I am now feeling inspired to bake a chocolate cake.
Yolks without Whites. Don’t you hate it when you have a recipe that calls for separating eggs, but you need more whites than yolks? Well, just freeze those leftover yolks in an airtight container. You can easily defrost them in the fridge overnight, but be sure to include a pinch of salt for every four egg yolks (or, if you prefer, a teaspoon of sugar).
Leftover stock. I always buy those four cup boxes of chicken stock (or I make it homemade). But if you don’t use the whole box within a week of opening it, you’re SOL. If I’m really being honest, I’ll tell you that I still use the stuff after seven days, but I will boil the hell out of it first. But the better tip is to freeze the leftover stock or broth in muffin tins, and then place the frozen stock muffins in a zip top freezer bag. And if you use one cup muffin tins, you’ll actually know how much you have.
And look at that… turns out I did go to Martha for a stock tip! I honestly didn’t see that one coming. (Swear to God, I caught it during proof reading.)
I hope you are enjoying the tip series! As the holidays approach, there will sure to be more cooking to blog about. Last year for Thanksgiving, B and his brother did turkey three ways – deep fried, oven roasted and rotisserie grilled. We were supposed to decide which method produced the best turkey, but no one kept track of which platter was which preparation. We think rotisserie turkey won. I’m hoping for a repeat this year… I’ll keep you posted.
And this Sunday is the Patriots-Colts game. We’re planning another Tailgate Clambake, but I am not attempting clam chowder again (see October 2009’s Disaster post). We’re thinking oysters as B has become quite the shucker. And I’m a sucker for a good shucker. Sorry, couldn’t resist. No cooking involved, but I’ll whip up some mignonette that is sure to be a crowd pleaser. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll get Sofia to eat one.
Until then, don’t forget to tip your blogger! I’m here all week.
Seriously… tip your blogger. What’s your favorite kitchen tip that you’d like to share with the world? Or the approximately one dozen people who may or may not read this.
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