Random Tips and Techniques

These are some random tips and techniques I found from the magazine Cuisine at Home. I thought some of the tips were pretty cool and would love to try them out sometime.

1. Neater butter pats - After placing a refridgerated stick of putting in a butter dish, cut them into tablespoon-size portions for recipes and to keep neater.
2. Hammer time - Using a rubber mallet for pounding and crushing instead of a meat mallet helps to not tear or rip plastic bags and wax paper.
3. Hands Free Meatloaf - If you don't like getting meatloaf all over your hands to mix, mix it inside of a ziplock bag and then squeeze it out into the pan.
4. Perfect Slicing - To evenly and easily slice strawberries, use an egg slicer.
5. Coating Cake Pans - Use sugar instead of greasing or using flour to coat the pans because it's easier to spread around than flour, doesn't clump or leave a floury film, and it also makes the edges taste a little sweeter.
6. Filling Pasta - When filling manicotti, use a pastry bag without a top or a ziplock bag by putting in the filling and squeezing it out into the manicotti.
7. Skimming Fat - To remove excess fat from from ground beef, sausage, tops of soups and chili, or when cleaning extra grease, use a piece of bread.
8. Artichoke Holders - Artichokes tend to fall over in the pot when steaming. To steady them, place thick rings of onion on the bottom of the pan and set the artichokes on top. This helps to cook them evenly, not fall over, and gives a little onion flavor.
9. Great Grippers - Wear rubber gloves to help you open jars.
10. Better Browning - Meat will brown better if you blot any moisture from the surface. A paper towel works great.
11. No Soggy Rice - Put a folded towel in between the pot and lid while cooking rice to absorb all the extra water that steams to the top. Cook the recommended amount of time.
12. Board Storage - If you have several small cutting boards, use a vertical sorter/file sorter (plastic or metal found in office supplies). Stick cutting boards inside to get out of the way and organize easier.
    

Roasted Asparagus

*Tips: Try to find the skinniest asparagus at the store for best taste. When you get home from the store, stand the asparagus up in a wide mouthed jar with about a half inch of water at the bottom. Cover the tips loosely with plastic wrap. When ready to cook the asparagus, don't cut off and throw away the tough bottoms. Peel the bottoms to the white part beneath.

Roasted Asparagus
Recipe (and tips) from Prudence Pennywise

Asparagus
Olive oil or cooking spray
Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 450. Toss asparagus with olive oil, lightly coating. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until browned and crispy in places.

To grill: Wrap lightly in tin foil.

Pineapple and Green Chile Pork Tacos (Crockpot)

Tips: I buy pork chops when they have two for one deals at Albertsons. Works well with chicken also. Don't even bother defrosting the meat if it's frozen; it'll be just fine. If you can't find green salsa, the red variety will be tasty here also.

Pineapple and Green Chile Pork Tacos in the Crockpot
Recipe from Prudence Pennywise

1 lb. pork chops

1 8 ounce can crushed pineapple with juices

1 cup tomatillo salsa (green salsa or salsa verde)

1 4 ounce can green chiles, undrained

1/3 cup brown sugar

For serving: warm flour tortillas, queso fresco (or feta), chopped cilantro, lime wedges, more green salsa

Combine all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high for four hours or on low for 6 to eight hours. Shred pork, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve in soft flour tortillas with desired accompaniments.

Pesto Pasta

Pesto Pasta
Recipe from the Finlinsons

Pasta (preferably not long and stringy kind)
Pesto
Salt and Pepper

Toppings of choice:
Cheese (parmeasan, cheddar, feta...)
Red Peppers
Tomatoes
Broccoli
Mushrooms
Avocadoes
Zucchini
Chicken
Bacon
ANYTHING really...

Cook up however much pasta you want, mix with pesto, add any toppings desired.

Afton's Fresh Peach Pie (RECIPE TO TRY)

Afton's Fresh Peach Pie
Recipe from The Mormon Family Cookbook

1 Baked pie shell
3 Large peaches
2 Soft peaches
1 Cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 Cup water
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 Tablespoons butter

Slice the three large peaches into baked pie shell. If the peaches are very juicy, lighly brush the pie shell with soft butter before adding peaches. In a small saucepan, mash the soft peaches; add sugar, cornstarch, and water. Cook over medium heat to boiling point, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute, or until thick and clear. Remove from heat and add almond extract and butter. Pour over peaches in pie shell and chill for several hours until set. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Crispy Cornbread

Crispy Cornbread
Recipe from The Mormon Family Cookbook

For thin and crispier:
9x13 pan
400 degrees

For standard:
8x8 pan
425 degrees

8-10 servings

1 Cup flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Cup yellow cornmeal
1 Cup milk
1 Egg, beaten
1/4 cup melted shortening
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cornmeal together into a bowl. Combine milk, egg, and melted shortening. Pour into flour mixture and stir just enough to moisten dry ingredients. Do not mix or beat. Bake in a well-greased pan for aout 20 minutes. Brush with soft butter immediately after removing from oven. Bread will be thin and crusty.

*For a pre-made mix, combine dry ingredients and put in a labeled jar with rest of instructions.

Lion House Dinner Rolls

Lion House Dinner Rolls (the way my mom makes them)

2 Cups warm water
2/3 Cup nonfat dry milk
2 Tablespoons dry yeast
1/4 Cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 Cup shortening, butter or margarine
1 Egg
5 - 5 1/2 Cups flour or bread flour

Combine water and milk powder, stir until milk dissolves. Add yeast and let sit a few minutes to bubble. Then add sugar, salt, shortening, egg, and 2 cups of flour. Continue adding the four in 1/2 cup increments until forms dough shape (pulls away from edges, not too sticky but careful not to add too much flour). Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double. Split dough into 3 or 4 sections. Grab one section and on a floured surface roll out dough to form a circle. Spread softened butter on top. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into 6 or 8 slices. Roll each slice to form a cresant shape. Line rolls on a cookie sheet. Continue with other sections. Butter tops (or wait and butter the tops after they come out of the oven). Let rise. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until brown on top.

Navajo Tacos and Indian Fry Bread

*Yes, I realize that this picture makes it look more like a Cafe Rio salad. It tasted really good that way but you don't NEED to add so much lettuce. Mine has on it chili, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, avocado, tortilla strips, hot sauce (Cholula), and cilantro (most all of which were leftovers from previous meals we had eaten...we were lucky to have such great toppings available.)

Navajo Tacos

Indian Fry Bread (recipe below) or scones
Canned or homemade chili
Shredded cheese (Mexican or cheddar)
Diced tomatoes
Shredded lettuce
Canned corn (optional)
Hot sauce (optional)
Salsa (optional)
Guacamole or avocados(optional)
(any other Mexican type ingredients are optional as well)

Top scones with desired toppings and eat.

*You can also spice up a can of chili if you want by adding things like pieces of cooked chicken, cooked ground beef, green chilies, jalepanos, chipotle peppers, additional spices, etc.


Indian Fry Bread (or Scones)
Recipe from Mom

3 Cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 Cup warm water
2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons sugar

Sift all dry ingredients together. Add the liquid all at once and mix together. (The dough will be pretty sticky, it's better this way and then use lots of flour when rolling it out so the flour is mostly on the outside but the inside is still moist.) Let stand 5 minutes. Pinch off a small amount at a time and roll out to 1/8 inch thick on floured board. Deep fry in hot oil, turning once. Lay on paper towels to soak up excess grease. Use with Navajo tacos or with butter and honey or jam.

*For scones, instead of pinching into balls take the whole dough, roll out (not too thin) and use a pizza cutter to slice into scone sized pieces.

Coconut Chicken Curry

Coconut Chicken Curry

Recipe from PrudencePennywise Blog

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped

Generous dash of ground red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 cup raisins

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1 large potato, peeled and chopped

1 and 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup coconut cream or half and half

hot rice, for serving

Garnishes: chopped cilantro

sweetened coconut

chopped almonds or cashews

lemon wedges

In a large skillet, melt butter and oil over medium high heat. Add onion and chicken and cook, stirring often, until chicken is almost cooked through. Stir in garlic, ginger, red pepper, salt, pepper, curry, raisins, carrots, and potato; cook stirring often for 1 minute. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until carrot and potato are tender, adding more broth if needed. Add coconut milk or half and half and bring almost to a boil. (The sauce will be thin but the rice will soak it up.) To serve, put rice in individual bowls and top with curry and a generous amount of liquid. Top with cilantro, coconut, almonds and lemon wedges.

Clam Sauce Pasta

Clam Sauce Pasta
Recipe from the Finlinsons

3 Cans clams (7 1/2 oz)
8 oz Angel hair or spaghetti noodles
1/3 Cup oil
1/4 Cup butter
3 Cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons parsley
1 teaspoon salt

Cook pasta in water and a Tablespoon of oil. In a saucepan, drain clams keeping the liquid. Heat butter and oil on medium heat until melted. Add garlic. Cook for 5 minutes. Add juice, parsley, and salt. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Add clams. Simmer until hot (not too long). Pour sauce over pasta and serve.

Rachel's Bread Sticks (or Pizza Dough)

*I still have yet to make them as good as Rachel does...then again, I've only tried making these in Kansas City...the place where I can never seem to get breads to taste as good as I hope.

Rachel's Bread Sticks (or Pizza Dough)
Recipe from Rachel Terrazas

1 Cup warm water
1 Tablespoon yeast
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 to 3 Cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 Cup butter, melted
1/4 Cup mayo
1/4 Cup Parmesan cheese
Italian seasonings of choice (she uses a seasoning mix they have at Costco or maybe try the foccacia bread toppings found here)

Mix together warm water, yeast, and sugar and let sit for 5 minutes until yeast is bubbly. Add 2 cups of flour and mix. Gradually mix in the last 1/2 to 1 cup flour until bread pulls away from edges. Let rise in bowl for 1 hour. Roll out on greased cookie sheet. Mix butter, mayo, Parmesan, and seasonings. Spread onto rolled out dough. Let rise until doubled. Bake at 350 until browned on top (around 10-20 minutes).

Mom's Bread Sticks (or Pizza Dough)

Mom's Bread Sticks (can also be used for Pizza Dough)

1 1/2 Cups warm water
1 Tablespoon yeast
4 Cups flour
1 teaspoon salt (heaping)
1 Tablespoon honey
Butter, melted
Parmesan cheese
Garlic salt
Other seasonings (optional)

Mix water and yeast. Add honey, salt and flour until dough forms a ball. Place on floured board. Pull and roll a small piece of dough to form breadsticks. Place on greased cookie sheet. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, garlic salt, or other desired seasonings. Let rise until double and bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Italian Spaghetti Squash

Italian Spaghetti Squash
Recipe from the Finlinsons

1 Spaghetti squash, about 1 1/2 lbs.
1/2 Medium green pepper, chopped
1/2 Medium onion, chopped
2 Cans stewed tomatoes
2 Cloves garlic, minced or 1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Prick squash with fork. Cook spaghetti squash in oven at 400 for 40 minutes. Cut open, remove insides and skin. In oil, cook green pepper, onion, garlic, and Italian seasonings until tender. Stir in tomatoes. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Serve over squash. Add butter and shredded parmesan cheese on top.

*You can also put over pasta. If you don't have Italian seasoning use 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp of marjoram, thyme, and sage.

Spam Musubi

*These are definitely hard to explain directions for such an easy thing to make. I wish I had taken pictures step by step...maybe one day I will. If anyone else reads this...that isn't Asian...you may not understand any of this...

Spam Musubi

1 Can Spam
1 Cup cooked sticky rice (basic recipe here)
1 Cup teriyaki sauce (or 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup soy sauce, and pinch of garlic salt)
Package of nori (seaweed)

Take the Spam and slice horizontally (or the way it fits into the masubi maker). Dip pieces into teriyaki sauce and place in a frying pan. On medium-high heat, brown on both sides of Spam. On the side, place half sheet of nori on a flat surface. Put the musubi maker in the center of the nori. Place rice inside and squish down until about halfway full. Put teriyaki Spam inside. Put another layer of rice inside and squish together. Using the top of the maker to push down, take the outside of the masubi maker off (to reveal a well formed square). Fold the nori around the rice/Spam.