Cooking Tips

This assortment of cooking tips is a collection from many sources. Some are just my opinion, others are tried and true techniques from the world's leading chefs; others will make your grandmother proud. If you have Domino's Pizza programmed into your speed dial, you probably will not be interested. 

Down at the bottom of this page you will find some information on cooking roast beef. 

Equipment
More expensive does not always cook better. All pots and pans should be heavy metal for good heat distribution. Metal handles can go in the oven, even at high temperatures.

Long oven mitts are better than potholders. NEVER use a wet towel.

If you want to brown food well, cast iron frying pans are best. 

If seasoned and used properly, cast iron is non-stick. Always:

Heat the pan
Heat the oil
Heat the food

Never use soap or a metal soap pad to clean cast iron. Hot water and a paper towel are all you need. Let stand in water if something is really burned on.

Get a whisk for mixing and scrambling eggs. Faster, lighter, fluffier. 

Get a good knife and keep it sharp. Don't laugh at the Ginsu knife; they work. You can spend a lot of money on a knife, but you can also find some gems at restaurant supply houses or knife sharpening services. Learn to use a steel to keep the edge in good shape.

Gas cooks better than electric. The ceramic cooktops look nice in pictures, but, are a waste of good money if you want to really cook. And they can't toast marshmallows 

If an appliance performs only one function, you don't need it. It will just take up space. Hot dog cookers, vegetable steamers, and a million other appliances are made to be Christmas gifts from the unimaginative. 

Increase the space in your refrigerator by 25%. Just look for something in the back of a shelf. By the time you find it, you will have tossed last month's meatloaf and other things no longer identifiable. 

Ingredients
Buy good stuff. Fresh is usually better than frozen. Buy what is in season and freeze it yourself if you can. 

Use butter, not margarine. Would you eat a plain cracker when you really want a piece of chocolate? It's just not the same.

Real sugar is only 18 calories per teaspoon. Food tastes like it is supposed to when you use sugar instead of the stuff in the pink envelope.

Definitions:

Herbs:     Dried plants that have flavor.
Spices:     Seeds or fruits from plants that are ground up.
Tangelo:     A native of Tangiers now living in Los Angeles.

Make some garlic wine. Put a few cloves of garlic in a bottle of wine, let sit for a week or more. Add to sauces, gravies, stews, soups. Adds a nice flavor. Keeps for months.

Nuts add texture to food. They can dress up otherwise bland dishes. Add them right in or use as a topping

Lock your car doors in August. The zucchini is being harvested and if you leave the doors open someone might give you some. 

Open that spice rack you got as a wedding gift. Add one or more of the spices to something tonight. Go ahead, how bad can it be?

Keep a can of Spam in the cabinet. With a couple of eggs, you have dinner on the day you get home late and tired. 

Around the Kitchen
Men can cook as good as women. They should also do the dishes after. 

Always cook with wine. Maybe even put some in the food.

Never eat alone. It is worse for the heart than all that fat you are cooking with.

When you add herbs to a recipe, use your fingers. Rub the herbs between them to release the flavors.

After the meal, eat that parsley that was used as a garnish. It contains a lot of chlorophyll and will freshen your breath. (Especially good on a date after a garlic laden dinner)

Do your layer cakes look like a mountain?  To make the bake flatter, after pouring the batter in the pan, swirl it around to wet the sides.  This relieves the tension and allows the edges to rise at the same rate as the center. 

Cooking
The most important ingredient in any meal is your imagination. Think of recipes as a good idea of where to start. Change it to the way you like it. 

Add some fruits to your vegetables. Tastes good and company will think you are really fancy. 

Many hum-drum foods can be livened up by adding nuts, apples, raisin, cheese or cinnamon. Your dinner guests will think you are a gourmet cook.

When something does not turn out right, add one of the above ingredients, give it a fancy name and your guests will be impressed.

Always use fresh ground pepper. It has flavor.

Learn to brown meats well. Just leave them in a very hot pan until they are really brown before you turn them over. Deglaze the pan after. That is where all the flavor is.

When food looks good, it tastes better. A couple of slices of apple with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar will brighten your breakfast dish. Maybe even improve the mood of the person you eat breakfast with.

Help your grandmother in the kitchen. That is the only way you will learn to make the best (fill in the blank) the way she does. You will want to know that ten or twenty years from now.

Bake a cake from scratch. Once you see how easy it is and how much better it tastes, you will wonder why they make that dreadful stuff in boxes.

Bake bread once a month (or more). It is easier than you think and it is good for the soul.

Cook most meat slow. What ever the recipe says, cut the temperature down and cook it a little longer and it will taste better and be more tender. Steaks are the exception and are best cooked hot. Very hot

Pizza has no recipe, but it is best made with a couple of friends and a six pack. Gather some things that might taste good and put them on top of the crust and bake at 500 degrees.

Microwaved foods should stand about half the cooking time so it heats evenly.

Meats or poultry out of the oven should stand 15 to 20 minutes before slicing. It will be juicier and carve easier.

Cooking is fun. If it is not fun, be sure you live near a good take out.

You can cook potatoes in the microwave. BAKED potatoes, however, are made in the oven. Don't even think about wrapping them in foil, unless you are tossing them in the fireplace to cook. 

Coffee ice cream.  Just say no!  There is nothing more vile tasting than cold coffee.  The only true ice cream is vanilla.  Sometimes fruit is OK, but coffee ice cream was developed for chemical warfare. 

Entertaining
Good wine in a jelly glass is better than cheap wine in crystal. Any wine is better than no wine. 

A good wine is one that you like. The correct wine with beef or fish is one that you like. Try a few different ones, different price ranges. 

The idea that red wine is served at room temperature goes back to when houses had no central heat. Serve red wine at about 60 degrees. Open the bottle and let it stand in the refrigerator for about 30 to 60 minutes.

Never drink beer out of a can or bottle. Pouring it releases the flavor. When you are hot and thirsty, drink a glass of cold water to quench your thirst. Now you can really enjoy that beer or mixed drink.

Use your leftovers for 'hors d' Oeuvres'. Cut them small, dip them in something and serve with toasted leftover Italian bread.

If guests insist, let them help in the kitchen. If they do not insist put them to work anyway if you need help. When he showed up for dinner early, the president of a multi-million dollar corporation peeled apples for my wife's tarts. 

Keep candles on the table. Light them at least once a week, even if it is the night you have the Spam.

Chemistry and Physics
Cooking food is just a lesson in chemistry and physics. You are changing the properties of ingredients with heat or mixing various chemicals together. 

If you want to chill a bottle of wine quickly put it in a bucket of ice water, not the freezer. Water transfers heat faster than air. That is why you can put your arm in a hot oven to check a cake, but not in a pan of boiling water. 

Heat has to transfer from the source to the food to cook it. That is why microwaved food should stand after cooking. The heat is still being transferred to the interior. Even from the oven or frying pan, meat roasts, chicken or turkey will increase about five degrees after taking it from the heat. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting and you will not lose as much of the juices.

The reason meats are browned is to concentrate the flavors.  That is the best part of anything, just like the crust of good bread. 

Along with chemistry is fire.  Keep a proper kitchen sized fire extinguisher handy.  Put it where you can grab it easily.  Grease fires can be put out by putting on a lid to smother it, but baking soda can also do the job in an emergency. 

Want to learn more about food chemistry?   Read Russ Parson's book, "How To Read A French Fry".  It is loaded with all sorts of good information.  One of the best books about how to cook available. 

Cooking Roast Beef

Some cuts of beef  are best when pot roasted.  Rump is my favorite.  My grandmother used to make rump roast in a Dutch oven that was the family favorite.  I was fortunate to inherit the pot after many years. Yes, even the pot can make a difference.

There are many ways to make a good pot roast, but I'll tell you what we do and works in this house.  You can modify from there if you want.

The best type of pot to cook on the stovetop is a Dutch Oven.  The best are either Club Aluminum (WalMart has them) or cast iron. The Club Aluminum pot we have is probably 75+ years old) and in the family was know as "the Pot".  My grandmother brought it with her when she came to visit and would make her beef in it. 

Heat the pot on a medium high heat for a couple of minutes and put in enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Let it heat also.  Now, put the roast in the pot.  Let it brown on every side.  Put it in the pan while hot and just leave it for a  few minutes.  Don't even peek for a few minutes.  Now turn to another side, and then the rest.  It should be very brown, close to burnt even is OK.  Trust me on this.

Now you are ready to cook.  Put about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water in the pan. Put the lid on.  Turn the flame down very low.  It will seem as though nothing much is happening, but it will slowly cook.  Keeping the heat very low, cook for about 4 to 5 hours.  In the winter, we put it on the top of the wood burning stove and leave it for about 6 or 7 hours.

After about two hours, take a look.  There is probably more liquid on the bottom of the pot as the fat renders.  This is going to make your gravy after the meat is done.

Ready to try rib eye? That is an over roast cut.  Rib eye is tender and must not be cooked too long or it will toughen.  Preheat the oven to about 450. Season the rib eye by rubbing it down with a mix of salt, pepper, minced garlic.  Montreal Steak Seasoning from the Ames Company works well for this. also.  Just put it in the roasting pan and put it in the oven. 

 After about 20 to 30 minutes, turn the heat down to 350.  Cook until the internal temperature is 130 to 135 degrees.  Take the roast out, let stand for 20 to  30 minutes under a foil tent and slice and eat.  It should be a little pink inside and be very tender.  I like rib eye on the rotisserie.  I do it a couple of times every summer.

As you learn more about the meat, you will know what to slow cook, what to fast cook.  The muscles of the animal that do the most work are the tough cuts.  They are made tender by cooking slow.  The cuts that are already tender will be made tough by over cooking.  This is true for every species.  Breast meat of poultry is tender and light while the working legs and thighs are darker and a bit tougher. Front legs of hogs are the tough cuts, the picnic and butt portions as they are called while the hams and loins are tender.. 

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