Welcome to this week's Ramble featuring part two of Kitchen Tips & Tricks. In case you missed round one, you will find it by clicking here.
Hard & Soft Boiled Eggs... that peel easily :-)
For years I struggled to find a method of making hard boiled eggs that would not result in a mumble grumble session as I tried unsuccessfully to peel the little beauties in a consistently easy manner.
That is... until I received Irwin Orkin's The Gaijin Cookbook.
It's just amazing how easy these eggs peel.
To start, use an egg poker to vent the eggs on the blunt end. This pinhole allows the air inside the eggs to come out when you lower them into the boiling water. Without this step you run the risk of eggs cracking during the boil. Use a large perforated/slotted ladle to move the eggs around... the bigger the better. :-) Get enough water boiling to make sure all eggs will be submerged. Once your pot shows a rolling boil, lower all eggs into the pot. Keep flame high and cook 11 min for hard and 7 mi 15 seconds for soft. While the eggs are cooking, prepare a large bowl with ice and enough cold water to cover your batch. When the timer goes off, ladle the eggs into the ice bath. Soft boiled stays 30-60 seconds... hard boiled stays until the ice is completely melted.
Do NOT store your hard boiled eggs in the original carton, but instead transfer them, still damp after draining, into a sealable container. Enjoy!
Elevated Red Wine Vinegar
Buy store brand red wine vinegar and add up to 50% of your favorite red wine. You will be amazed at the new flavor pallet! :-)
After chopping food, use the dull end of a knife to scrape
the contents from the work surface.
Ingredients like onions are often chopped, then scraped into a bowl or cooking
vessel. Always flip the blade over to use the end opposite of the sharpened
blade for scraping. Otherwise, the blade will dull considerably, making it less
efficient and more likely to slip when chopping or slicing.
Preparing Asparagus
Asparagus is a wonderful vegetable, but it does need a quick prep before cooking. There is a stringy section at the bottom of the stalk that is not a pleasant mouth feel so it should be removed. Instead of just guessing, there is a way to remove just the right amount of stalk to end up with perfect asparagus.
Break the asparagus by hand… Ted Allen Style. I learned this tip from Ted on the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Hold one stalk in both hands and bend it until it snaps. The spot where it snaps is where the stringy section at stalk bottom ends.
Dip the blade of your sharp knife in hot water to heat it
up. Then wipe with a dry towel and cut your cake or cheesecake into nice, tidy
slices. Repeat each time for pretty slices with a clean edge.
Next time you need fresh lemon juice, try this restaurant
tip. Microwave a lemon for 7-10 seconds. Then, roll the lemon back and forth
under your palm on the counter. When you squeeze, you’ll get more juice from
the lemon with way less effort. Try it with limes, too!
Have a great week, everyone, and thank you for your support!
Blessed be… and happy cooking!
Chef Michael R
