Kitchen Tools and Gadgets

• A thermometer helps you repeat success and avoid repeating failures. I have two from Thermoworks:
  >   An immersible/insertable thermometer: Good to take the core temperature of meats
  >   An infrared thermometer: Great for everything from preheating your griddle to acting as a candy thermometer.
• Use tongs to help squeeze limes or lemons.  Gives you leverage.

Cooking tips

• When cooking pasta, reserve a cup of pasta water for thinning your pasta sauce. Put at least a ladel back into the sauce to make it stick to your pasta better.  Also, you can use the water with a bit of cheese to make a nice creamy sauce.  Also, don’t rinse your pasta after cooking.
• Use screaming high heat for searing meat, preferably in a cast iron pan.
• Select the pan which is best suited for your recipe.  (eg) Don’t use an aluminum pan with anything cooked with acidic ingredients.  Cook pancakes in a non-stick pan, but don’t use metal utinsels.
• Blanche and shock fresh vegetables (boiling water, then ice water) to make them greener and set the flavor.  If doing two, start with the lighter vegetable and work onto the darker vegetables.
• Let your oven completely preheat before putting your food in.  You will get uneven heating, and even incomplete chemical reactions.

Kitchen Design

• When replacing your counter consider ceramic tile or porcelain stone tile. Lay with a thin grout line.

Keeping it Clean

• Stain Removal: Voted best overall was Oxi-Clean. Very inexpensive, very effective. Soak for about an hour. Removed blueberry, mustard, chili, chocolate, red wine, beets and coffee.
• CAMEO was voted best Aluminum and Stainless Steel cleaner
• Never ever put cast iron in the dishwasher, or clean it with soap.
• Barkeepers friend is good for cleaning steel pans
• The five second rule is bogus unless the item is totally hard and dry.  If it is the least bit moist, you are probably putting feces into your food or mouth.  Yech.

Preserving Food

• To freeze fresh berries spread out on cookie sheet and freeze 4 hours. Put into freezer zip locks.
• Store vegetable oils and most seed oils in a cool dark place to minimize spoilage

Safe Kitchen Tips

• When cutting cherry tomatoes put them between two cottage cheese lids and slice a bunch of them in half at the same time.
• Use water bottle with a sports top as your barbecue sauce dispenser
• Don’t pour bacon grease down the sink.  Instead, pour into a can and let it solidify, then just throw it away.

Entertaining

• When you are preparing a menu for an important event, always test the recipe before the day of your event. Never use your guests as guinea pigs.

UDON – 100% wheat flour – From Osaka area

SOBA – 20% white, 80% buckwheat – from Tokyo area – nutty, low gluten, a good lunch noodle

SOMAN – wheat, thin, angelhair, good summer pasta – Cook and chill

RAMEN – wheat, water, egg, soy, vinegar, mustard

Cook noodles separately because it will make water starchy

Instructions

Cook for a long time or it is chewy

 Jalapeños

Heat the following in a pan to boiling

• 3 cups white vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder

Process peppers:

1. Cut off stem and discard
2. Cut off tip 1/3 of the pepper, and put in “ready” bowl
3. Cut remaining 2/3 piece in half and put in “to be processed” bowl
4. Use a thin knife (fillet knife) to ream out  seeds and veins (put seeds and veins in a “use later” bowl
5. Move deveined piece over to the “ready” bowl
6. Complete all pieces until “to be processed” bowl has been emptied
7. Sterilize jars and lids
8. Put enough peppers to fill one jar into the hot liquid and let blanch for 2 minutes,
9. Then move pieces into your jar until nearly filled
10. Move some of your brine into the jar, leaving 1/2 inch headroom
11. Set aside for hot water bath canning
12. Repeat until “ready” bowl has been emptied.
13. Process in hot water bath

Seeds and Stems – HOT PEPPER OIL

1. Place seeds and stems in a casserole dish
2. Cover seeds and stems completely with Canola or Olive oil
3. Bake in oven at 400 degrees for one hour
4. Let cool
5. Drain into oil bottle, discarding remnants
6. Use oil to spice up any food where oil might naturally be used

BUYING YOUR TURKEY

• If you have the freezer space, buy your turkey during Thanksgiving or Christmas when they are on sale.
  Make sure they are wrapped well so they do not dry out or get freezer burn.
• If it is a fresh turkey, piece it out and freeze the pieces.  Use shrink wrap to preserve them for up to an entire year.
• Cooking for a big crowd?  Consider two smaller turkeys instead of one large one.
• Buy a FRESH turkey without any added ingredients.  Other great options are organic, kosher, heritage or premium-brand.

THAWING YOUR TURKEY

• NEVER EVER EVER cut a frozen turkey with an electric knife.
• Starting from completely frozen, figure about one day for every four pounds of meat
  or
• Put into sink in COLD water, breast side down, for 30 minutes per pound.
  Keep water running at a trickle for THE ENTIRE TIME that it is thawing
  or
• Put into HOT water, breast side down, for 15 minutes per pound.
  Keep water running at a trickle for THE ENTIRE TIME that it is thawing
  Refill sink with hot water every half hour
• For crisper skin, unwrap it during the last day and let it thaw uncovered the last 24 hours.  Even better, use a dry rub during the last day.  This will draw even more of the liquid out resulting in even crispier skin.

PLEASE NOTE:  Only the first method is recommended by the FDA, but it has never worked for me.  My refrigerator though, is set at 34º
I follow the first method, then move to the second until the internal temperature is about 35º and does not have ice crystals.

RAW TURKEY

• Cross contamination is your biggest enemy.  Wash your hands frequently.
• After you have rinsed your turkey, wash your sink with soap, and wipe your counters off with bleach wipes.
• Wash cutting boards with soap and water, then wipe with a bleach wipe.

COOKING YOUR TURKEY

• Before cooking, let it rest on the counter for an hour so that the heat can come up to room temperature.  This will result in a more evenly cooked bird.
• The first time I cooked a turkey I had never heard of “a bag of giblets.”  I cooked the turkey with the bag inside the body cavity.  Remember to take this packet of meat out.  You can cook these up and use the broth as the base for your gravy.
• DO NOT throw out the pan drippings.  They are pure gold.  Use them for making gravy.
• If you use one of those cheap aluminum roasting pans DO NOT us it alone, but rather place it on a heavy oven baking pan.  Use a foil bed to hold it off the bottom of the pan.
• Use an internal thermometer to make sure your oven thermometer is properly calibrated.
• If you are cooking your turkey to be served with other things, and it finishes too soon, cover it with aluminum foil, then a thick bath towel.
• If presentation is not an issue, piece your turkey out and cook the parts individually.
  White meat to the front of the oven, and dark meat toward the back.  The back gets hotter and will dry out the white meat.
• For cooking a thawed frozen turkey, plan on 20 minutes per pound in a 350 degree F oven
  plan on 10 to 15 minutes per pound if you are cooking a fresh turkey
• A turkey will cook more evenly if you do not stuff it.  Fry up the giblets and use the fond and broth to cook your stuffing in a pan using the drippings.
• Instead, put some garlic, onions, carrots and celery into the body cavity.
• Never trust the pop up timers that come already inserted into the turkey
• If you get a late start cooking your turkey, cook it for the first 30 minutes at 425º and then reduce to 375º.  Remove one hour from the overall cooking time.
• For crispier skin, wipe the outside with olive oil and sprinkle with some herbs and spices
• Once you get the turkey in the oven LEAVE THE DOOR CLOSED until the time is up.  Resist the urge to peak
• If it appears to be browning too quickly put a sheet of foil loosely over the top.
• Likewise, if the fond on the bottom of the pan is dry and starts to burn, put 1/4 C of water in the bottom of your pan to save the drippings.
• Use an insertable thermometer to check when the center of the breast meat hits a temperature of 165º, or the thigh for a temperature of about 170 degrees.  Get one from Amazon.com
• The intense heat forces the liquid to the center of the turkey, away from the skin.  After cooking, cover with a foil and then a bath towel and let rest 20 minutes.  This will allow the juices to redeploy and let the temperature continue to rise until it hits about 170 and 175,  This is just about the time needed to make gravy.

GRILLING YOUR TURKEY

• Use a Weber Grill that has a lid that closes completely
  Put coals on each side of turkey (not directly under)
  Put drip pan under turkey for catching the gravy drippings

DEEP FRYING YOUR TURKEY

• This is quite the fad, but the benefits do not outweigh the risks.  A nicely seasoned oven-cooked turkey can be just as flavorful as one cooked in a vat of grease that will burn you to the point of scarification in about five seconds.
• If you insist on doing this
  • …take EXTREME precautions against spilling your container of hot grease
  • … dry your turkey off VERY well before putting it into the fryer
  • … make sure your turkey conveyance mechanism is tight, secure and sound
  • … keep all children and other activities away from the cooking area
  • … have a fire extinguisher immediately available

SERVING YOUR TURKEY

• Tent foil over the turkey for 20 minutes before carving to allow moisture to redistribute into the meat.  If you need more time to make stuffing, etc. you can keep it tented for about 45 minutes without losing too much heat.
• View the below video by Martha Stewart Kitchens that shows, in excellent detail, how to carve your turkey.
• Turkeys start to spoil after only two hours on the serving table.  Have everything ready for refrigerating the left-overs and remove the bird and wrap it while dessert is being served.  This is a task that can be delegated even before you start eating, so that you can focus on being a good host or hostess.  Have them remove most of the meat from the bones and put into a baggie or foil.  Put the carcass in a bag and put in the refrigerator intact so that your guest can return to the party.  You can get the small pieces of meat off later.  Save the bones in the freezer for making stock.

It saddened me when we had to downsize, and I lost my five-burner gas range. This has caused a rethinking of how I cook. When you turn gas to low, the heat is immediately low. When you turn an electric range from high to low, it takes several minutes for the temperature to adjust. Here are some tips that will help you when cooking with an electric range.

• When cooking on an electric stove, use two burners. Set one on high to bring to a boil, then move to another burner and set to low for the simmer you know is coming right up.
• When you broil in a gas oven, you close the door.  This doesn’t work with electric.  You must keep the door ajar slightly in order for the broiler to function properly.
• The temperature regulator of the stove top will turn the burner on and off, so 350º really just means that it will average 350º
• One of the best investments you can make will be an IR InfraRed Thermometer by ThermoWorks.  No, I don’t get a kickback.  They are only about $40 and you will use it practically every day.  NEVER heat your teflon pan over 450º and never take cast iron over 550º.
• Preheat pans with care because electric gets hot very quickly.  Your IR Thermometer will help you with this task.  A drop of water in your pan will help in absence of a thermometer
• Don’t use abrasive cleaners with a ceramic stovetop.  It will scratch it.  There are non-abrasive cleansers that you must use.
• Don’t ever run your stove top on HIGH.  It is like flooring your car all the way to work.  Use one notch above high as your high heat setting.
• You can still use your cast iron skillets as long as they set flat.  You can’t use the ones with a rim around the bottom edge (like a reversible grill pan / griddle) Do not EVER slide your cast iron across your ceramic cooking surface.
• Also, my cast iron wok does not work very well on the electric stove top.  I bought an inexpensive gas wok that I keep on the patio.  I also use the wok for blackening peppers, which you can’t do on the electric range.
• I have two heavy cast iron skillets that I keep on the bottom rack of my oven.  It takes longer to preheat, but it maintains a steady temperature better.
• The burners retain their heat for an inordinately long time.  I set a bread cooling rack on the hot burner as a reminder.
• If your lid leaks water over the edge of the pot, it will pop and crack as the water hits the coil.  Always a shock.  Boil-overs are pretty awful too.
• After turning on a burner, pause 10 seconds and put your hand over the burner you THINK you turned on to make sure you got the right one.
• Resist turning the knob 180º when you turn it on.  Maintain the visual reminder of a burner ON knob turned slightly to the left or right.
• If you have old pans and skillets with a warped bottom, get rid of them and get some new ones – even if they are second hand.  The warped bottoms do not come in contact with the heating element and will not heat properly.
• Try to match the size of your pan with the burner that is close to its size.  If the pan is larger, it will heat unevenly with a hot-spot in the middle.  If it is smaller, you could melt your handle or mixing spoon with the heat escaping up the sides of the pan.

These are approximate, but they will help you in… a pinch

• Four drops equals one pinch
• Sixteen pinches equals one teaspoon
• Three teaspoons equals one tablespoon
• Two tablespoons equals one ounce
• Four tablespoons equals one forth of a cup
• Eight ounces equals one cup
• Two cups to a pint
• Two pints to a quart
• Four quarts to a gallon

MINCED, DICED OR CHOPPED?!?!?!?

• Minced is very very small, followed (in order) by
• Diced
• Chopped
• Julienned
• Cubed
• Chunked
• Pieces