The kitchen tends to get cluttered very quickly, so de-cluttering regularly is imperative to maintaining good organization. The state of your kitchen is not only connected to the state of your health and how happy you feel, but also to the flow of prosperity and abundance in your life (according to Feng Shui).
As busy wives and moms, you know the value of a cup of coffee. Actually, some of you may say that it’s priceless. Although you can spend beaucoup-bucks for a pound of premium coffee, unless it’s fresh and you’re using proper techniques, you are just wasting your money. So, what are the secrets to satisfying your daily coffee craving?
Adding zest, the outer colored part of the unwaxed peel of citrus fruit, to a dish sure can enhance its flavor, but you may wonder which way is best to zest? There are various common kitchen utensils which can be used to create zest, such as a grater, a vegetable peeler, a knife or a microplane grater.
When it comes to peeling garlic, you probably have your own tried and true method for getting the desired result — a clean clove that’s ready to chop. The last thing you want to do when peeling garlic is spend time trying to hand peel that resilient skin off with your fingertips. Rather, try one of the methods below for quicker (and easier) results.
Keeping your knives sharp isn’t just convenient, it’s safe. Any chef will tell you that dull knives cause accidents. According to Gordon Ramsey, it’s also far harder working in the kitchen with a blunt knife than with a sharp knife, so keep your knife sharp!
Whenever a recipe calls for a mirepoix (pronounced “meer-pwah”), it’s calling for a mixture of chopped celery, onions and carrots. Raw, roasted or sautéed with butter or olive oil, mirepoix is the flavor base for a wide variety of dishes such as stocks, soups, stews and sauces. It can also be used as a garnish to accompany vegetables, macaroni and cheese, or other baked cheese dishes. Usually, mirepoix is ultimately strained out of the finished stock, so it’s not important to use great precision when chopping the vegetables. The sizes should be more or less uniform, however, to allow for uniform cooking times. The more finely mirepoix is chopped, the more quickly its flavor and aroma is released into a stock.
Grill Backwards. All of the grilling gurus out there (like Bobby Flay and Steven Raichlen) will tell you to sear meat first and then slow cook it. In my 20 years of grilling for Just in Thyme Foods, I have found it better to do just the opposite. I don’t know about you, but I like that real good hickory smoke flavor in my meats. And you know what? You just cannot get that flavor if you heat the meat up first.
Do your hard boiled eggs have green edges around the yolk? Is the egg shell hard to peel? If so, then take a moment and read this week’s Cooking Tip to learn how to make the perfect hard boild eggs.