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Cooking tips
By Barbara Pool Fenzl
Here are some food-preparation and cooking tips from Barbara Pool Fenzl, host of the public television series "Savor the Southwest."
To grate citrus peel easily and without a mess, cover a side of a box
grater with a piece of parchment or wax paper. The peel remains on the
paper and the grater stays clean.
Add extra flavor and a deliciously smokey, spicy taste to sandwiches
or salads by adding a puréed chipotle pepper (found canned in adobo
sauce) to mayonnaise or ranch dressing.
A can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce goes a long way because
usually only 1 chile at a time is called for in a recipe. Opened, the
can will last for a few weeks in the refrigerator, but for longer-term
storage, arrange chipotles on a wax-paper lined baking sheet and freeze
them. Once frozen, wrap them individually and use as needed.
The easiest way to handle an avocado is to cut it in half, remove
the pit, and cut the flesh into slices or cubes while still in the skin.
Use a tablespoon to scoop the slices/cubes into your dish.
To pipe chocolate with no fuss, put 1 cup mini chocolate chips into a
heavy-duty sealable plastic bag. Put the bag into a bowl of hot water
for 5 minutes or until chips melt. Remove bag from water, pat dry, and
press the melted chocolate into one corner. Cut a small slit in the
corner and you're ready to decorate.
Cilantro stems are almost as tender as the leaves so rather than
picking off the leaves for chopping, give the bunch a "haircut." Simply
wash the entire bunch and shake it dry; then, over a cutting board, hold
the stems and scrape a sharp chef's knife along the leaves. Chop the
leaves on the board to the desired size and store the remainder of the
bunch in the refrigerator until it next "haircut."
If you don't make your own chicken stock, buy one without much salt
added (such as Swanson's Less Salt). When stock cooks down in a dish,
the salt content becomes more concentrated and can ruin it. You can
always add more salt, but you can't take it out. To compensate when
using purchased stock, don't add salt to a recipe until it's finished;
then taste and adjust accordingly.
To clean lettuces and keep them perky, wash them in a large sink of
cold water with 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of vinegar
added. Spin them dry in a salad spinner and store them in open plastic
bags lined with paper towels. They will stay crisp for 3 to 4 days.
The best way to remove seeds from a tomato is to cut it in half
along the "equator" and, cut side down over a sink or bowl, give each
half a good squeeze. Seeds and excess liquid will pop out. Always do
this when making a salsa fresca so it isn't too watery.
To cut a bell pepper, cut off both ends with a sharp knife. Lay
the pepper on its side on a cutting board and slit it lengthwise with a
sharp knife. Then, using the knife, simply roll the pepper open,
cutting any seeds and membranes, until it becomes one flat piece. Now
it is easy to julienne and/or dice.
Most of the heat in a jalapeño is in the seeds and membranes. To
avoid coming in contact with them, stand the jalapeño on its end and,
with a sharp knife, cut layers of only the flesh from stem to tip.
Discard the core of the chile in a dry waste container, not the garbage
disposal (the fumes will cause you to cough). Dice the flesh of the
chile to the desired size.
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