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| Cooking 101: Medium Sized Tips |
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Soups
Croutons nicely complement creamy soups, as their crispness offsets the smooth, creamy texture (they add extra calories, however!).
If you are serving a soup in a tureen, don't sprinkle over the croutons until the tureen is on the table, and your guests or family are ready to at, as the croutons quickly loose their crunch.
Some people say seasoning a soup to perfection is the most difficult part of soup-making. I'm inclined to agree. When clear, flavourless liquids, like water and milk, or bland, starch ingredients, like potatoes or rice, or vegetables with a high water content, like courgettes and leafy greens, are used, more salt is required.
Add the salt in stages, stirring it in well, then wait a few minutes, stir again and taste. No soup should taste bland or be tasteless; continue seasoning and tasting until the flavour is more pronounced or drawn out.
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Herbs
If herbs like parsley are chopped in a food processor or blender with other ingredients they will turn the mixture green. Sometimes this can enhance the food, as in the case of avocado dips or mixtures, green pea or green vegetable soups, green sauces, etc. But sometimes it can look unappetizing, as is the case when meatballs are tinged with a greenish hue (it look as if the meat is off). In the latter case, it is better to add the chopped herbs to the mixture after processing; the herbs will then colour the mixture attractively with little flecks of green.
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Anchovies
Look for plump anchovies sold in glass. Don't fry anchovies in hot oil as they
seize and harden and can become bitter. Cook them gently, stirring, until they dissolve into a paste.
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Berries
To prevent berries from going soft and squishy, transfer them to a tray lined with absorbent kitchen paper (make one layer only), and drape another piece of kitchen paper over the top. Refrigerate and use as soon as possible.
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Coriander
A feathery herb with an oily, grassy, citrus taste, it is used extensively in Asia, the Middle East and South
America. It is often referred to as Chinese parsley and is known as cilantro in Mexico, North America and South America.
Coriander grows easily in the garden and if picked with its long roots intact, the roots put in a container of water, and the leaves covered with a plastic bag, and kept refrigerated, it will continue to grow for some time.
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Filleting citrus fruit
Filleting means to remove and discard membranes in between each segment of fruit. Carefully remove the peel with a serrated knife using a gentle sawing movement, removing all the pith with the peel. Then make a cut on both sides of each piece of membrane and the segments will come away easily. Don't waste the juice in the membrane. Squeeze it into a glass and drink it if it is not needed in the recipe. After peeling, the fruit may be cut into thin rounds instead of segments.
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Fish
Don't overcook fish. The old trick of cooking until the flesh is white to the bone is outmoded. Cook until it is pink and still juicy around the bone; the fish will continue cooking as it stands thanks to residual heat.
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Flan rings
A flan ring on a baking tray produces a crisper pastry bottom, as any moisture
can freely run out from underneath the flan ring and evaporate. In a flan dish, the
moisture is trapped in the dish, underneath the pastry, and it can cause the pastry
to become soggy.
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Frittata
I loathe, I mean LOATHE frittata impostors - you know, those ruddy great door-stopper wodges of soggy vegetables encased in too much firm dry egg. A frittata should be thin, really just a few seasonings flavouring the eggs, or slightly more substantial, with a few vegetables held together with eggs. It should never be made in a cake tin or roasting dish, nor should it be a home for last week's leftovers.
If you're nervous about the flipping business, lightly brown the top of the frittata under a hot grill. The best result is achieved by cooking both sides in hot oil in the pan because the oil flavours the frittata and makes it crisp; grilling can make the frittata dry and too firm.
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Olive Oil
Olive oil is sensitive to light and warmth. Exposure to light quickly turns it rancid, giving it an unpleasant buttery quality. Bottles of oil may look pretty on the bench, but if the oil is for consumption, it should be kept in the pantry. Dark glass bottles offer more protection than clear glass ones; oil in plastic bottles is to be avoided. Don't refrigerate olive oil because condensation which forms on the inside of the top can fall back into the oil.
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Meat
Have meat at room temperature before cooking - it can take 20-30 minutes for
heat to penetrate the centre and start cooking a solid joint of chilled meat.
Salt meat immediately after cooking (not before), then let it rest for at
least 10 minutes before slicing so it can firm and the juices settle.
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Minestrone
To make minestrone more substantial, small pasta shapes can be added along with any greens, but (and this is a BIG but) the pasta will not improve in the soup; it will turn flabby and, eventually, slimy. Therefore, only add pasta to the whole pot of soup if you intend all the soup to be served, or, if it is for a smaller group, to the amount of soup you are reheating and serving.
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Onions
If you want the flavour of an onion to come out (for soups and sauces), soften it gently in butter or oil.
If you want the flavour to stay in the onion (crispy fried onions and many Indian dishes), sauté the onion in
butter or oil until a rich golden brown. If you want onion flavour, and some sweetness (most dishes), soften
the onion first then let it brown gently.
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Pasta
No matter how much salt is in the sauce, if the pasta water is not salted, the pasta will taste bland and will not meld with the sauce.
Add salt to the water once it comes to the boil then taste it - it should taste salty (use a very large spoon for this and blow on the water until it is cool enough). Don't over-drain the pasta or the surface will dry and the sauce will not flow over. Don't cut back on the oil or butter called for in authentic Italian pasta sauces - it is the body of the sauce and without it the sauces will be wishy-washy.
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Roasted Peppers (Capsicums)
If you have barbecue facilities, peppers can be roasted on the barbecue grill rack and will take on a
wonderfully smoky flavour. Alternatively, put the peppers on a rack in an oven preheated to 200°C and cook, turning occasionally with tongs, for about 20 minutes, or until they are blistered and charred. The peppers may also be grilled under a hot grill. Transfer to a board when done and peel off the skins when cool, slip out the cores and seeds and save any juices.
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Salt
The amount of salt required in an oil-based dressing is often not stated. The recipe will probably read
"salt to taste" and that's because it depends on the type and quality of oil used. The heavier oils, like
olive oil, peanut oil and walnut oil, require more salt than light oils such as safflower oil and canola
oil. Oils also differ from brand to brand.
Although an oil-based dressing may "taste" of the oil used (for example, olivey or fruity if made from olive oil, or nutty if made from a nut oil) it should never be oily or greasy.
Salt with its slight abrasiveness, has the effect of cutting through the oil texture in a dressing (as well as flavouring the food, of course). To illustrate this, smear a little oil on your palms, then rub them together. They will feel smooth and slippery. Now sprinkle on a little salt and rub them together again. You'll notice the salt's abrasiveness and how it gets rid of the slippery feeling. Imagine this on your palate.
Add salt to the dressing by degrees, say 2-3 pinches. Whisk it in, let it settle a few minutes, then whisk again. Dip a small teaspoon into the dressing and taste. It should be smooth, but it shouldn't leave your mouth coated in oil. If you have over-salted the dressing, dilute with more oil and readjust the acid content.
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Spinach
Leafy vegetables, like spinach, can be cooked with just the water left clinging to them after washing. Put them in a saucepan, set it over a medium heat and stir the spinach often until it has wilted, or until it is cooked to your liking.
Salt added to spinach as it cooks will minimize any chalkiness.
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To thicken yoghurt
To make yoghurt thick and velvety, like Greek yoghurt, it is necessary to drain off the whey.
Line a small sieve with a piece of kitchen paper or, if straining it for longer than 4 hours, with clean muslin, and rest it over a bowl. Pour in the yoghurt, cover with a plate and leave to drain for at least an hour, but up to 36 hours.
Carefully turn the yoghurt into a clean bowl and use as desired. After one hour the yoghurt is thick and sauce-like. After 36 hours it is very dense and creamy and can be shaped into little blobs, dusted with chopped herbs, paprika or ground pepper, and served as a fresh cheese, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, or fresh walnut oil. Serve with pita pockets of pumpernickel bread.
The thickened yoghurt can also be mixed with capers, spices, lemon zest, garlic, green peppercorns, gherkins, olives, etc., and used as a dip or a sauce.
The whey, which contains worthwhile nutrients, can be used in baking bread, muffins etc.
Tea
Sam Twining, the tea expert, told me never, and he means NEVER, reboil water to make tea - always start with freshly drawn cold water. Use cold water because hot water will pick up traces of copper. The water should be brought to the boil and poured onto the tea immediately. Boiling drives off the oxygen and this can result in the tea tasting flat. It doesn't seem to affect my herbal teas.
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