Posts in Cook’s Tips
How To Flame Spirits
Spirits are used to flame sauces and desserts. How to successfully flame spirits at home requires a little practice Igniting a dish at the table never fails to capture everyone’s attention. When spirits are flamed, the alcohol burns off leaving a concentrated flavor with hints of caramelized sugar, producing a ... more
Read moreHow Much Sodium Does Salted Water Add To Pasta
Cooking Pasta When you cook pasta, you have two options: Use unsalted water Add salt to cooking water I was raised in the second camp. My parents always added salt to the cooking water. Most pastas have little or no sodium. That’s good if you are on a sodium restricted ... more
Read moreCooking Dry Beans
Advantages of Dry Beans Canned beans are convenient, but there are several reasons for buying and cooking dry beans instead of canned beans: Lower Cost More Variety Significantly Less Sodium BPA Free With dry beans you get just beans and no chemicals, additives or preservatives. Beans are an excellent source of ... more
Read moreMeal Planning
Home cooking takes time, but not as much time as some people would have you believe. It is convenient eating out. No groceries to buy, no preparations, no cooking, no clean up. But what you get in return for convenience is usually more calories, saturated fat, sugar, sodium and refined ... more
Read moreFat & Oil Smoking Point
There are several reasons for knowing the smoking points of oil and fats. The healthiest fried foods, especially deep-fried foods, are cooked at high temperatures to prevent soggy, greasy foods loaded with fat calories. Deep frying temperatures range from 350°F to 400°F (177°C to 204°C). The higher an oil’s or ... more
Read moreFresh versus Processed Garlic
Mediterranean, Asian and Indian foods would not be the same without garlic. Originally, garlic was only available as bulbs. There was no need to buy this herb when it can be easily grown from fresh garlic cloves. If you see sprouts browning from your garlic and have a garden or even ... more
Read moreCorn Muffins
Corn is an abundant and relatively inexpensive grain. Originating in the Americas, American Indians and Spaniards called it maiz. In Italian it is mais or grano. An inexpensive Italian peasant food food derived from corn is polenta a cornmeal mush that can be baked, fried or grilled. American ingenuity has ... more
Read moreHow to Perfectly Poach Shrimp
Many recipes like Shrimp Cocktail cook raw shrimp in boiling water. But shrimp, like most seafood cooks in just minutes making it easy to overcook producing a tough, rubbery, chewy consistency. Precooked, frozen shrimp is usually grossly overcooked. The secret to perfectly cooked succulent shrimp is poaching. Poaching is the ... more
Read moreSalted vs. Unsalted Butter
Virtually every celebrity chef and cooking show recommends cooking and baking with unsalted butter. The rationale is using unsalted butter allows you to control how much salt is in the food. But does cooking with unsalted butter really make that big a difference? Considering how much salt is added to ... more
Read moreBlanching and Roasting Almonds
Click for Step-by-Step YouTube video. Many recipes require blanched almonds (almonds without skin). You can buy blanched and toasted almonds or prepare them using this simple method. more
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