Cooking Tips / Hacks

[Waquoit]

I know we have a ton of amateur chefs here, I'd like to start a thread on tips you use in the kitchen. I do OK but I've kind of reached a plateau and I'm interested to see what others are up to.

I'll start with the suggestion to have an extra set of ice cube trays to use for things other than ice. For example, my basil is growing so well I can't keep up with it. So I make pesto and freeze it in the trays then put the cubes in baggies. You lose some green but I can't tell if the Chicken Pesto Pasta came from fresh or cubes. Also, if you make your own stock or have leftovers from the cartons, the trays are the way to go. 8 cubes to a cup.

 

[8893]

More and more people seem to be getting hip to this, but the best way to preserve an avocado (and guacamole) and keep it from getting brown is to keep the avocado pit in it. If you have a few pits from making a bowl of guac, same them all to throw in the leftovers bowl before covering and putting in the fridge. If you are just using half an avocado, keep the pit in the other half when you put it in the fridge (better yet, use one of these).

 

[storrsroars]

When I make a "serious" chili (using dried chiles instead of powder), I adopt an Indian technique of "frying the spices" before adding meat. This is basically frying the minced chiles with the onion (and garlic if using) until pungent, then adding the meat. I think it adds depth of flavor, ymmv. You could do it with chili powder as well, but when I use the powder I'm using only making some half-assed chili for myself, so I don't go all out.

I had a nice wooden pepper grinder that stopped grinding uniformly and I couldn't adjust the thing anymore, so I bought one of those plastic grinders with peppercorns inside. When that was empty I bought another. And another. And while I have a an old coffee hand mill I used as a spice grinder, and finally bought a new peppermill, I decided to use the empty plastic ones to store and grind other whole spices I often use, like allspice, coriander seeds, fenugreek, etc. Stays fresher longer. And I buy my whole spices (and many herbs) at small ethnic shops (Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern) as they're usually much cheaper.

More and more people seem to be getting hip to this, but the best way to preserve an avocado (and guacamole) and keep it from getting brown is to keep the avocado pit in it. If you have a few pits from making a bowl of guac, same them all to throw in the leftovers bowl before covering and putting in the fridge. If you are just using half an avocado, keep the pit in the other half when you put it in the fridge (better yet, use one of these).

I've been doing the keep the pit in the half avocado thing for years, but never thought of saving pits to put into the leftover guac. Makes sense.

 

[Chin Diesel]

When I make a "serious" chili (using dried chiles instead of powder), I adopt an Indian technique of "frying the spices" before adding meat. This is basically frying the minced chiles with the onion (and garlic if using) until pungent, then adding the meat. I think it adds depth of flavor, ymmv. You could do it with chili powder as well, but when I use the powder I'm using only making some half-assed chili for myself, so I don't go all out.

I had a nice wooden pepper grinder that stopped grinding uniformly and I couldn't adjust the thing anymore, so I bought one of those plastic grinders with peppercorns inside. When that was empty I bought another. And another. And while I have a an old coffee hand mill I used as a spice grinder, and finally bought a new peppermill, I decided to use the empty plastic ones to store and grind other whole spices I often use, like allspice, coriander seeds, fenugreek, etc. Stays fresher longer. And I buy my whole spices (and many herbs) at small ethnic shops (Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern) as they're usually much cheaper.


I've been doing the keep the pit in the half avocado thing for years, but never thought of saving pits to put into the leftover guac. Makes sense.

When you fry the spices before the meat do you add an oil or anything else or is it dry spices directly on the heat?

 

[Waquoit]

More and more people seem to be getting hip to this, but the best way to preserve an avocado...

I am not one of those people and we use plenty of avocados. Thanks.

 

[storrsroars]

When you fry the spices before the meat do you add an oil or anything else or is it dry spices directly on the heat?

In oil while I'm doing the onions.

 

[Chin Diesel]

In oil while I'm doing the onions.

I'll do same with my veggies before putting them in the chili pot. Although some times I ground up the meat with some seasoning and cook the veggies in the fat from the meat instead of using oil. Getting a nice char on the peppers and stuff gives some better color to the chili too.