"Wrinkles for the cook"

A rather nice term from MFK Fisher to describe simple remedies and little things to make things easy.
I thought a thread on little, but neat kitchen tips might be fun.
I'll start off with what I am doing right now for tonight's pizza.

For nice even slices of fresh mozzarella I use an egg slicer. They are the perfect thickness.

I use an egg slicer on fresh mushrooms to put on pizza.

[Jenise]

I don't have an egg slicer, but it sounds like a great tip.

Strangely, offhand I can think of nothing I do that's unusual or that most people couldn't do--like smashing a garlic clove flat-ish so that the peel doesn't fit and comes off with a flick. It's something that most people already do--or they're afraid of knife blades and can't be talked into it. Or they have a device like one of those flexible rubber tubes that they love, even though it takes much longer.

Actually, one of my favorite things I picked up from Robin decades ago. I used to freeze little blobs of tomato paste, about 1 tblsp pieces, on a cookie sheet then bag them up. Robin mentioned that he just puts the tomato paste in a sandwich baggie and freezes that, breaking off what he needs as he goes. BINGO. Great timesaver, and even more practical. Only way I've done it ever since!

[Robin Garr]

BINGO. Great timesaver, and even more practical. Only way I've done it ever since!

Awww! I still do, of course.

Robin mentioned that he just puts the tomato paste in a sandwich baggie and freezes that, breaking off what he needs as he goes.

Wow!!

That's so useful! Lost count of number oftimes recipe has needed a small amount of concentrated tomato paste and you always haveto buy a larger portion which is then wasted. [/quote]



*****OH NO--Jenise talking here. I accidentally used the edit button instead of the quote button and wrote over Peter's description of how in doing a steamed vegetable and boiled potato dinner, he used to use two separate pans but now cooks the potatoes in the steaming water. Same result, less pans. I'm so sorry Peter!*****

[Robin Garr]

I'll post one that Mary taught me and that I've been doing as long as we've been together. I've mentioned it occasionally on this and other food forums, and everyone looks at me as if I have a third eye, right in the middle of my forehead.

It's this: Make rice in a double boiler! For standard long-grain, one part rice, 1 1/2 parts water. A little salt and, if you like, a bit of butter. Put over a light boil for 20 minutes, and it's done. But here's the best part: If dinner isn't ready, leave it on a low simmer and it won't over-cook for any reasonable length of time. It never sticks, it always comes out well, and it's a whale of a lot cheaper than a rice cooker.

If you like to keep fat, freezing is a way to prolong the life.

I gasped when I saw a friend searing foie gras and then pour out the excess fat (50% of foie gras turns into liquid fat when seared). I collect it and freeze it and pull out a bit (it is easy to break apart if you freeze it in small amounts in a round container so you can store a stack of frozen discs).

Want a nice garnish? Fry a potato sliver in duck fat. Or for comfort food, a single egg fried in duck fat on a piece of toast - it doesn't get much simpler or tastier.

[Jenise]

Yup, Peter. Scoop it into the middle of the bag, then smoosh with the palm of your hand into a patty shape about 1/2 inch thick and put that in a flat area of the freezer to set up. Once it's frozen you can just pile it on one of those little shelves on the door for bitty stuff.

Clever work boiling the potatoes in the steaming water. Good use for a double-boiler type pan (which I don't have).

Howie I can't believe I didn't think to do that with mushrooms as well, love mushies in pizza.
Talk of freezing ( tomato paste, duck fat excellent ideas) I discovered that cheeses actually freeze well. This came as a revelation and a big surprise. It came about because my dear partner came home one day with some great bargains! A 12inch wheel of King Island Brie and a beautiful kilo block of King Island blue, both great cheeses both close to best by date (I use my own judge ment on that and know that there was plenty of leeway but still so much more than we could use). So we/I portioned it and chucked the excess in the freezer on the premise I had nothing to lose. Much to my delight when I defrosted some it was great, put it on a cheeseboard no noticeable difference in taste or texture.
Which has also led me to squirrel away oddments and ends of cheeses in the freezer for my mongrel mac'n'cheese.

[Jenise]

I gasped when I saw a friend searing foie gras and then pour out the excess fat (50% of foie gras turns into liquid fat when seared). I collect it and freeze it and pull out a bit (it is easy to break apart if you freeze it in small amounts in a round container so you can store a stack of frozen discs).

Reminds me of the Foie Fools events you used to do. Was always fun to hear about, but I don't believe I've heard about one since Bruce passed away. Is that over?

Another one in the "freeze it so it won't go bad" category: A lot of the stir-fry cooking that I do calls for small amounts of chicken stock. I don't have a stock pot, so I'm often left with the better part of a container of store-bought stock. I pour it into an ice cube tray, freeze it overnight, then put the stock cubes in a freezer bag. It provides a convenient way to get that couple of tablespoons of stock the recipe calls for. The same technique works for coconut milk and even homemade Thai curry pastes.

-Paul W.

On the rare occasion when I buy one of the deli roasted chickens I always throw the carcass into an 8 qt pot, add enough water to cover and the trimmings from any aromatics on hand and simmer for about 30 mins. Those chickens are brined before they are cooked so they make a really flavorful stock that I freeze for various uses or use immediately for a quick soup. Makes me feel like I've gotten my money,s worth out of the old bird!

Reminds me of the Foie Fools events you used to do. Was always fun to hear about, but I don't believe I've heard about one since Bruce passed away. Is that over?

I plan on doing one when I get moved - later this summer - may do the searing on the BBQ outside unless I figure out how to disable the fire alarm.

Part of the delay is in getting doctor's certificates as we get older, saying we have a chance of surviving an FG fest....

Part, I'm sure, is the fact that having tried FG in a myriad ways, I (and others) have decided that it really doesn't get a lot better than just searing it, salting it and putting it on something like a toasted brioche slice. Repeat treatment as needed.

[Jenise]

I (and others) have decided that it really doesn't get a lot better than just searing it, salting it and putting it on something like a toasted brioche slice. Repeat treatment as needed.

BINGO. This could be a thread starter.