Cooking Hints!

[ShelleBink]

I know the Ron Fez cookbook is in the works, but share your cooking hints here.

Tonight I tried putting a lil olive oil in the water before putting in pasta. I'll be damned if the trick worked and not one piece of pasta stuck to the bottom of the pot.

[BoondockSaint]

Don't cook soup in the can.

[sailor]

here's a pretty basic one: always let your meat come up as close to room temperature as you can before cooking. also, get a meat thermometer. everything will come out better if you cook it till it's done (but not overdone).

[Landblast]

when making small amounts of sauces and gravy from scratch, as a thickening agent, flour is always the flavor killer, use sparingly or find an alternative that goes well with the job.

[sailor]

when making small amounts of sauces and gravy from scratch, as a thickening agent, flour is always the flavor killer, use sparingly or find an alternative that goes well with the job.

a lot of the time you can make a roux (equal parts flour and fat [oil or butter]) as a thickener. this is cooked separate and then added to the rest of the sauce. this eliminates the raw flour taste.

[Fat_Sunny]

when making small amounts of sauces and gravy from scratch, as a thickening agent, flour is always the flavor killer, use sparingly or find an alternative that goes well with the job.

When Making A Classic White Sauce, You Always Cook The Flour In The Butter For About A Minute, And Then Add The Milk. You Do Not Want To Brown The Flour, But By Saute'ing It First, You Get Rid Of That "Raw" Flour Taste In The Sauce.

Take It To The Bank.

[Fat_Sunny]

Jinx On Coke!

[King Hippos Bandaid]

email my wife these ideas

She cooks and cleans

:king:

[sailor]

email my wife these ideas

She cooks and cleans

:king:

i won't let my wife near my kitchen.

[Fat_Sunny]

email my wife these ideas

She cooks and cleans

:king:

Clorox "Clean-Ups" Are Unbelievably Good For A Wide Variety Of Household Chores.

[Hottub]

Clorox "Clean-Ups" Are Unbelievably Good For A Wide Variety Of Bedroom Chores.

Thanks For The Advice. Hot_Tub Will Try It After The Bbq!

[Fat_Sunny]

Thanks For The Advice. Hot_Tub Will Try It After The Bbq!

Are You Tailgating In The Feather's Parking Lot Again Tonight? :lol:

[sailor]

When Making A Classic White Sauce, You Always Cook The Flour In The Butter For About A Minute, And Then Add The Milk. You Do Not Want To Brown The Flour, But By Saute'ing It First, You Get Rid Of That "Raw" Flour Taste In The Sauce.

Take It To The Bank.

for darker sauces it's ok to brown it (either blond or chocolate). this is used a ton in creole/cajun cooking and gives a nice nutty flavor in addition to thickening.

[Hottub]

Are You Tailgating In The Feather's Parking Lot Again Tonight? :lol:

Yes. Me and Marc with a Big C.

[sailor]

Yes. Me and Marc with a Big C.

i'm busy tonight, sorry.

[Landblast]

a lot of the time you can make a roux (equal parts flour and fat [oil or butter]) as a thickener. this is cooked separate and then added to the rest of the sauce. this eliminates the raw flour taste.

i rarely have time but on the weekend, so i like quick sauces to go with a meat,..lamb or fish, so making a roux would be decadent for me., i gotta get a job that gives me more time to cook.

[sailor]

i rarely have time but on the weekend, so i like quick sauces to go with a meat,..lamb or fish, so making a roux would be decadent for me., i gotta get a job that gives me more time to cook.

yeah, then i'd go with cornstarch or arrowroot.

[Bulldogcakes]

Order take out.

[Chigworthy]

for darker sauces it's ok to brown it (either blond or chocolate). this is used a ton in creole/cajun cooking and gives a nice nutty flavor in addition to thickening.

Homemade etoufee kicks so much ass. Simple to make.

Oh yeah, my cooking tip. "Simple is almost always better." Quit fuckin putting ten kinds of dried herbs into everything, or making hugely complex dishes. Classic dishes are those that take a few fresh, quality ingredients and marry them together. Take one of the more noble foods, the Kumamoto oyster. Shuck that thing and all you need is a squirt of lemon.

[sailor]

Homemade etoufee kicks so much ass. Simple to make.

Oh yeah, my cooking tip. "Simple is almost always better." Quit fuckin putting ten kinds of dried herbs into everything, or making hugely complex dishes. Classic dishes are those that take a few fresh, quality ingredients and marry them together. Take one of the more noble foods, the Kumamoto oyster. Shuck that thing and all you need is a squirt of lemon.

your two ideas are funny because i've never seen an etouffee with less than 10-12 ingredients.

[lleeder]

When Making A Classic White Sauce

Ha ha..white sauce :tongue:

[feralBoy]

Adding oil to pasta water is culinary blasphemy in italy. The idea being that the oil prevents the sauce from sticking to the pasta. Oil is only allowed in the water when you make lasagne. If you use a big enough pot of water, the pasta shouldn't stick.

A good cooking hint. You should always salt your food while you are cooking, but if you want something to brown, brown if first, then add salt. Because the salt will draw out moisture and prevent browning, this is especially true with mushrooms, which are almost impossible to brown if you salt them.

In dishes that seem somewhat flat, add fresh lemon juice.
Never refrigerate tomatoes. The cold kills most of the flavor.
Do not keep potatoes and onions in the same drawer. They make each other go bad faster.
Do not eat apple seeds, or the green spots on potatoes. They are poisonous.

[PapaBear]

If you want to weigh uncooked spaghetti, cut big notches out of two sides of a plastic cap from a can of Pam. It will hold the spaghetti while you weigh it.

[milliehatchett]

When using cornstarch as a thickener (flour is nasty) always add some cornstarch to really cold water, stir to make it smooth and then add to the boiling liquid in the pot. This totally eliminates clumps.

Also - when making a really garlicky tomato sauce, beat the hell out of the garlic. I smash mine with the flat part of the knife - do it with the inner skin on and it comes off very easily. Then slice and add to the sauce. The rougher you are with garlic - the sweeter it is.

[PapaBear]

Here's a simple one. I use to keep a can to pour grease into, but it got annoying having it around. When I brown some ground beef, I pour the fat into the foam tray that it came in. Let it sit long enough to congeal, then just toss it in the trash.

[MadMatt]

Always get the water boiling before you add the bunny rabbit. A tight fitting lid is also helpful.

I learned this trick from my psycho ex-wife.
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Shelle: As for putting oil in your pasta water, it is usually frowned upon. The pasta will not stick to the pot, that is true, but the sauce also has a more difficult time sticking to (and permeating) the pasta. I guess it all depends upon your final goals, however.