Start Cooking blog

Pecan Pie

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Pecan Pie is a holiday treat! Chock-full of nuts, it’s a splurge that requires very little preparation time. However, you will need to plan for extra time at the gym after eating this mouthwatering dessert!

There are tons of recipe variations for a Pecan Pie. I’m sticking to a very classic recipe that calls for:

3 Eggs
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1 cup of light corn syrup
4 Tablespoons of melted butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of pecans, (6 ounces)
1 frozen pie crust, (9 inch.)

Many people use unsalted butter in their recipes. You actually have more control of the amount of salt in a recipe when you add your own. If you are using unsalted butter, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to this ingredient list.

Preheat your oven to 350 F. degrees and then get all of your ingredients measured before you begin mixing. In general, pre-measuring before you start to cook is a good habit to get into.

When measuring brown sugar always pack it into a dry measuring cup. (There was a great article in this week’s Boston Globe debating the use of dark vs. light brown sugar and corn syrup.)

You can mix everything together with a whisk or a fork.

It should look like the photo below when everything is mixed together. Be sure there are no unmixed lumps of brown sugar.

Add the nuts

And give it a stir. The nuts will float to the surface. (Some recipes call for 2-to-3 times more nuts than my recipe.)

Set the frozen pie shell on a baking sheet with sides. Once the pie is cooked it will be MUCH easier to remove from the oven if it is on a baking sheet.

Now pour in the filling.

The pie is ready to go into your preheated oven.

Before you put it in the oven, cover the edges with a tin foil ring.

Normally you would cook a pie for about 15 minutes and then cover the edges. With pecan pie the crust gets too dark that way, so start with the edges covered.

For about $4. you can buy reusable pie rings like the one on the pie in my oven.

As the pie cooks, it puffs up. This is normal. It will take about 40-45 minutes for the pie to bake.

To check for “doneness”, slide a small, sharp paring knife into the pie about 2 inches from the crust. It should come out clean. (If you have an “instant read” thermometer the internal temperature of the pie should reach 200 F. degrees.)

As the pie cools, it will slump down and the top will crack a bit.

I love Pecan Pie with vanilla ice-cream!

Enjoy!

P.S.

Below is a photo comparing the pie crusts. For the darker pie on the left, the tin foil went on 15 minutes into the baking time. It is too dark. For the one on the right, I put the tin foil on before putting it in the oven...and it’s perfect!

Recipe: Pecan Pie

serves 8

3 eggs
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1 cup of light corn syrup
4 tablespoons of butter - melted
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of pecans (6 ounces)
1 frozen pie crust (9 inch)

Preheat Oven to 350 F. degrees

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a fork or a whisk.

Add brown sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, vanilla extract and mix until blended. Stir in pecans.

Set pie crust on a baking sheet with sides. Pour pecan filling into pre-made frozen pie crust. Cover edges of pie crust with a ring of tin foil.

Bake 40-45 minutes or until pie is set. A knife inserted into the pie 2 inches from the crust should come out clean. (An instant read thermometer should reach 200 F. degrees.)

Cool the pie on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Casserole

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Sweet Potato Casserole is a vegetable side dish for people who say they hate vegetables. It is sweet enough to be a dessert, but since it really is a vegetable it can be paired perfectly with Roasted Chicken, turkey, and (especially) baked ham. In the USA, it is a traditional dish served with a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.

This Sweet Potato Casserole recipe is made with canned sweet potatoes, which are much easier than using fresh sweet potatoes, which would need to get cooked first (see below).

Fresh and Canned Sweet Potatoes

Buying canned sweet potatoes may be a bit confusing, as it will say on the label (at least in the USA) both “sweet potato" and "yams”, which may sound like a contradiction of terms as in many parts of the world a yam is not a sweet potato!

According to Plant Answers “Yams in the USA are actually sweet potatoes with relatively moist texture and orange flesh. Although the terms are generally used interchangeably, the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that the label "yam" always be accompanied by "sweet potato”.”

The really great thing about using canned sweet potatoes for this recipe is that all the ingredients can be bought well in advance and just happily sit in your food cupboard until you are ready to start cooking!

sweet potatoes, rum, brown sugar, pecans ,mandarin oranges

Sweet Potatoes - Fresh

Just in case you prefer fresh versus canned sweet potatoes, they need to get cooked first, cooled and then added to the casserole. Bake them as you would white potatoes by first scrubbing them clean…

…poke them with a knife…

…and bake them with their skins left on in a 400 F. degree oven for about 1 hour.

Once cooked, cut them in half and scoop out the sweet potato. They are now ready to be mixed with the other ingredients for the casserole. (See below)

Let’s startcooking!

It takes less than 10 minutes to assemble this Sweet Potato Casserole and only 30 minutes to bake.

As always, it is best to get all your ingredients prepared and measured first.

melted butter, brown sugar, chopped pecans, rum, mandarin oranges

Preparing and Measuring the Ingredients

Put four tablespoons of butter in a small microwave safe bowl and melt the butter in the microwave. That should take about 30 seconds. Three tablespoons of butter will get mixed into the sweet potatoes and the remaining tablespoon of butter will be for the pecan topping.

You can use light or dark brown sugar. Three tablespoons will be mixed in with the sweet potatoes and the remaining tablespoon will be mixed with the chopped pecans for the topping.

Roughly chop 1/3 cup of pecans – or a bit more if you love pecans! A serrated edge knife works best for chopping nuts. Rock the knife through the nuts by holding the handle of the knife in one hand and the tip of the blade with the other hand.

The rum adds a nice flavor to this Sweet Potato Casserole, but it is an optional ingredient.

Drain the liquid from the mandarin oranges…

…and GENTLY rinse them under cold water.

Spread them out on a paper towel or clean kitchen cloth.

Drain the sweet potatoes in a colander,

and put them in a large mixing bowl.

Mixing the Ingredients

Add to the sweet potatoes: three tablespoons of the melted butter….

…2 tablespoons of rum…

…3 tablespoons of brown sugar…

…and 1/4 teaspoon of salt…

and some freshly grated black pepper.

With a potato masher…

or an electric hand mixer…

mash/mix everything together.

GENTLY fold in the mandarin oranges. These oranges are very delicate and you do not want them to lose their shape by over-mixing them into the sweet potatoes.

Spoon the sweet potatoes into a 1 quart, oven-safe casserole dish.

Pecan Topping

Add the chopped pecans to the remaining one tablespoons of butter and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of brown sugar as well.

Mix these three ingredients together with a fork.

Sprinkle this pecan topping on the sweet potatoes.

(Many Sweet Potato Casserole recipes call for mini marshmallows to be added to the top as well!)

Bake the sweet potatoes in a pre-heated 375 F. degree oven for 30 minutes and enjoy!

Recipe: Sweet Potato Casserole

serves 6

2 cans of sweet potatoes (16 ounces each) - drained
4 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of black pepper
4 tablespoons of butter - melted
2 tablespoons of rum (optional)
1 can of mandarin oranges (11 ounces) - rinsed and drained
1/3 cup of pecans - chopped

Mash the sweet potatoes with a masher or you can use an electric hand mixer.

Blend in 3 (of the 4) Tablespoons of brown sugar, the salt, and 3 (of the 4) Tablespoons of butter and the rum. Gently fold in the drained mandarin oranges. Spoon the sweet potato mixture into a 1 quart casserole dish.

In a small bowl combine the remaining 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar, the remaining 1 Tablespoons of butter and the chopped pecans. Sprinkle over the top of the sweet potatoes.

Bake at 375 F. degrees for 30 minutes.

How to: Squash

kathy@startcooking.com (Jessica Howard, Kathy Maister) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Can you spot the buttercup squash? If not, read on!

As autumn arrives, grocery stores and markets fill up with winter squash in all shapes and sizes. Acorn, butternut, buttercup, spaghetti … which one is which? And what do you do with them? This post will introduce you to some of the more popular members of the gourd family. Even if you don’t end up cooking with them, you can use them as seasonal decorations!

How to Choose Squash

Winter squash have tough, inedible skins. When buying winter squash, look for ones that are heavy and have smooth, un-dented skins with the stems still on. These are indications that the squash was harvested when ripe and will have more flavor. Winter squash contain lots of healthy nutrients, like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, potassium and fiber. Whole squash can be kept for up to a month, unrefrigerated, in a cool dry location.

Preparing Winter Squash

Most squash varieties can be baked, boiled, steamed and sautéed, but they each have different tastes and textures. Particular cooking techniques are better suited to some than others - don't try making butternut squash soup with spaghetti squash!

To prepare squash, start by washing it off and drying it. The next step will depend on how you want to use the squash and whether you have a good, sharp knife.

Option 1. Cut the Squash Before Cooking: Peeling squash is not easy, which is why some people roast squash unpeeled. You can peel the squash with a vegetable peeler (as shown it this video) or with a knife. Then you can cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and cut the flesh into whatever size pieces you need. Or, you can simply cook the two peeled/scooped-out halves in the oven (at 400F for about 40 minutes) or the microwave (calculating two minutes of cooking time per pound of squash).

Option 2. Partially Cook the Squash Before Cutting: If the squash is too hard to cut, try microwaving it for a minute or two, or boiling it for five minutes. You'll have to let it cool and then try to cut it.

Option 3. Cut the Squash After Cooking: Another way to avoid cutting a raw squash is to bake it whole. Pierce the squash in several places (using a fork or sharp knife) to let air escape, then bake it at 400F for about an hour. (If you do not pierce the squash it may EXPLODE in the oven!) Once it has cooled, you can cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and either cut the skin off or scoop out the flesh. This is a great method to use if the squash is going to be pureed for a side dish or soup.

Option 4. Roasting squash: Once you have cut the squash in half and scooped out the seeds you can roast it. Preheat the oven to 400F and drizzle the squash halves with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Put them cut-side down on a baking sheet, and roast for about 40 minutes.

Kathy roasted all the squash she photographed, shown below cut-side down...

...then turned each piece over to check that it was done.

Now, let’s find out who’s who in the squash family!

Butternut Squash (shown below)

Butternut squash is one of the most popular varieties because of its sweet, rich taste and beautiful orange color. These creamy-skinned squashes have a bulb-shaped end that contains the seeds. Butternut squash can be served pureed with apples or as the made into butternut squash soup. Here’s a video that demonstrates maple-glazed butternut squash, a delicious and simple side-dish that calls for a quarter cup of rum. You can also use plain baked butternut squash as a side dish, salad or pasta topping.

Buttercup Squash (shown below)

Buttercup squashes are round and flat in shape and often have dark green skins. Although their flavor is similar to that of butternut squash, they’re not as sweet and they have a drier texture. They work well in many of the same recipes as butternut squash. Here’s a recipe for Brandy-Laced Squash Soup with Cinnamon and Bay Leaves.

Spaghetti Squash (shown below)

These oval-shaped squash produce stringy flesh that can actually substitute for pasta. (It looks like pasta but tastes like watery summer squash!) The flavor is mild, so you can serve it with a pasta sauce or parmesan cheese, or even just a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Kathy explains how to cook and serve basic spaghetti squash, or try this Mediterranean version.

Acorn Squash (shown below)

Shaped like (you guessed it!) acorns, and typically dark green on the outside, this type of squash tastes great baked. Its nutty flesh is a bit drier than that of other squash varieties. You’ll often see recipes for stuffed acorn squash, because an acorn squash half makes an attractive, edible bowl.

Delicata Squash (shown below)

These long, cylindrical squash are also known as sweet potato squash because their creamy flesh resembles that of a sweet potato. They can be used in many recipes that call for butternut or buttercup squashes or sweet potato. Here’s a recipe for Delicata Squash and Gruyere Dip.

Pumpkin (shown below)

While these bright orange globes are the most sought after of the squash family, they get carved for Halloween more often than eaten. The size of pumpkins makes them a bit difficult to handle in the kitchen, which is why there's a marvelous invention called canned pumpkin. Kathy makes use of pumpkin puree in her Pumpkin Soup Without the Fuss and in her Pumpkin Pie for Beginners.

Summer Squash (shown below)

Yellow summer squash (shown above) and green zucchini (shown below) are also part of the gourd family. We have already covered how to prepare zucchini and yellow-skinned summer squash can be prepared in many of the same ways. Here’s a recipe specifically for summer squash.

9 Healthy Halloween Treats

kathy@startcooking.com (Jessica Howard, Kathy Maister) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0500

It was still summer when giant bags of Halloween candy started appearing on store shelves. Then, the bakeries and cafes upped the ante, pushing the fluorescent-orange-frosted cupcakes and cookies. You're conflicted: the adult in you hates Halloween hype, but the 10-year-old still salivates at the sight of all that sweet stuff. The good news is that you and your kids can enjoy plenty of Halloween goodies without going into sugar shock. Here are some ideas for Halloween treats with a healthy twist.

Veggie madness: Adam at Men in Aprons did a great job creating a Haunted Forest Platter: its got broccoli "trees", hard-boiled egg "ghosts" and plenty of other creepy creatures made from vegetables.
Easy, queasy appetizer: For an eyeball-ish appetizer, follow startcooking's recipe for Deviled Eggs. They can be topped with either green or black slided olive "irises". Better Homes and Gardens took it one step further in the photo below by adding asparagus eyebrows and using really great shaped plates!

Photo: Better Homes and Gardens
Forget the Candy: We all love candy but there are so many Healthy Trick or Treat Alternatives. Including:
Cereal bars

Snack packets of dried fruit, baked pretzels, nut and seeds

Trail mix

Animal crackers

100 calorie packs of various products

Single serve boxes of ready-to-eat cereal

Raisins and chocolate covered raisins

Fig cookies

Mini boxes of raisins

Individual juice drinks (100% juice)

Single-serve packets of low-fat microwave popcorn

Sugar-free hot chocolate or apple cider packets
SOS (Save Our Seeds): If you are planning on carving a pumpkin, hang on to the seeds and roast them for a savory snack.
Make Jell-O even spookier: If you whip up a package of orange Jell-O following the package directions and set some plastic spiders or other creepy crawlies on top, you've got a simple, non-fat Halloween dessert. If you are feeling more adventurous, try some Spooky Jell-o Jigglers!

Photo: Kraft Foods
Calling all cookie monsters: Instead of going for store-bought, try the Skinny Chef's pumpkin-shaped peanut butter cookies.
Hot spider! Ooops, that's cider: Hot apple cider, which consists of apple juice, a few spices and orange peel, takes just a few minutes to make. Or try Real Simple's cold Screaming Red Punch with a fake hand (shown below)

Photo: Kevin Kennefick for Storey Publishing
Spiced up popcorn: Rather than making the traditional popcorn balls, why not try some of Macheesmo's Five Spice Popcorn for a real flavor explosion! Simply Recipe's Perfect Popcorn Recipe will guarantee no seeds on the bottom of the bowl.
Pumpkins, pumpkins and MORE pumpkins: Carving a pumpkin is great fun but when it comes to cooking with pumpkins, it is a lot easier to just buy a can of pumpkin puree. Startcooking's Pumpkin Soup Without the Fuss is a snap to make using pumpkin puree. Or you might want to try Pumpkin Pie for Beginners which comes out perfect every time!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

How to: Potatoes

kathy@startcooking.com (Jessica Howard) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0500

There is an incredible variety of potatoes from around the world – literally thousands of them. Different varieties of potatoes vary in texture. They can be starchy, waxy, or somewhere in-between. Some potatoes are great for mashing while others work best if baked or roasted.

At the grocery store there are usually signs above the potatoes that will tell you which ones are great for baking versus which ones are better for mashing. Some potatoes are described as "all-purpose" which means you can cook them any way you want.

What’s common to all potatoes is that they’re incredibly versatile and nutritious. They contain iron, Vitamin C, potassium and starch. Sweet potatoes – which are actually a very distant relative of regular potatoes – are loaded with Vitamin A, C and B6. In general, potatoes can be boiled, baked, steamed, microwaved, and used in salads, soups and stews.

Starchy, Waxy or All-Purpose?

Russet or Idaho potatoes have a starchy texture that works well for baking.

Starchy Potatoes (aka baking potatoes) are good to use for baking, French fries and mashing. They tend to come apart when cooked, so they’re not great for dishes like scalloped potatoes.
Some examples: Russet (aka Idaho), Norchip, Goldrush, Norkotah, Long white, Jewel Yam, Japanese Sweet potato, Hannah Sweet Potato

Small, round new potatoes taste great boiled.

Waxy Potatoes (aka boiling potatoes, round white, round red) keep their shape when cooked, so these are the best options for boiling, roasting or steaming. They’re also the best to use in dishes like potato salad or scalloped potatoes
Some examples: Warba, Rose Finn, Pontiac, Russian Banana, Red Thumb, French Fingerling, LaRette, Austrian Crescent, New potatoes

All-purpose

These potatoes fall somewhere between starchy and waxy, so they work in most recipes.
Some examples: Viking, All blue, Kennebec, Carlton, Yukon Gold, Norland Red, Purple Majesty.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are often referred to as “yams” in the United States. Strictly speaking, they are not the same thing (not even related!). True yams are typically grown in parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean – they are often brown or black, and can grow to be several feet long.

Follow the same guidelines for buying and storing sweet potatoes as you would other potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are often baked in their skins, or used to make sweet potato fries. There’s also the Thanksgiving classic, Sweet Potato Casserole (shown below), which is often topped with marshmallows!

startcooking.com's Sweet Potato Casserole

Buying and Storing

Look for potatoes that are unblemished and don’t have a green tinge. A greenish skin color signals that the potato has had too much exposure to light. These potatoes may actually taste bitter and cause digestive (and other) problems. If the potato is only partially green, you can remove the green part and use the rest.
The worst place to store potatoes is in the fridge – this affects their taste and color. They should be kept in a cool, dark and dry place (not under the kitchen sink), and away from onions.
If stored at room temperature, they’ll last about a week. If stored between 45 and 50F (7 to 10C), they’ll last several weeks.
It’s better to store potatoes in a paper bag or cardboard box than in a plastic bag.
Pre-washed potatoes will spoil more quickly than unwashed.
If you’ve had some potatoes around for a while, you may notice that they start to sprout. According to the National Potato Council, this means that they’re being stored at too high a temperature. You can still use them – just cut the sprouts off.

How to Wash Potatoes

Wash them under running water, scrubbing the surface of the skin with a brush, or vigorously with your hands. Don’t use soap, though.

How to Peel Potatoes

Depending on how you’re using potatoes, you may want to peel them. If you want to remove the skin before cooking, simply use a vegetable peeler and peel from one end of the potato to the other.

If you don’t like peeling, you can also remove the skin of a potato after boiling it. In this method, cut a shallow slit around the middle of the uncooked potato, and then boil it. After boiling, dunk the potato in ice water for a few seconds. When it's cool enough to touch, it will be very easy to pull the skin off. The potato is then ready for mashing or using in a recipe.

When it Comes to Cooking Potatoes, Startcooking.com has Covered:

Here are More Basic Potato Recipes:

Crepes of Wrath demonstrates (with photos!) a One-Skillet Potatoes, Sausages, and Peppers
Here’s a recipe for Scalloped Potatoes from Simply Recipes. To make scalloped potatoes "basically you layer thinly sliced potatoes with any number of extras - cheese, onions, parsley - add milk or cream, and bake. The potatoes absorb the liquid as they cook, the cheese melts, the top gets browned."
Pioneer Woman shows us a twist on baked potatoes by demonstrating a great recipe created by Australian food writer Jill Dupleix, called Crash Hot Potatoes.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Stuffed peppers are great (and easy) to make for a family meal or casual get-together. My filling for stuffed pepper starts with two simple ingredients – cooked rice and browned ground beef.

You can use leftover cooked rice (from Chinese take-out?) or make your own. Get the rice started first as it usually takes about 20 minutes to cook. Check out my video on “How to Cook White Rice” for a quick review.

Cleaning the Peppers

While the rice is cooking, get the peppers washed and remove the stem and seeds. Any color bell pepper will do. But remember, the red ones are the sweetest!

Start by slicing off the very top of the peppers.

Then,with a small paring knife, carefully slide the knife around the stem to loosen it. You should then be able to gently pull the stem out.

With a spoon scrape out any remaining seeds and “stem ribs”.

It is important that the bell peppers are able to balance upright on their own. Slice off the tiniest bit off the bottom so that the peppers can stand without rolling over.

Set the cleaned peppers snugly in a baking dish and set this dish aside for just a moment.

Making the Filling

In a large frying pan, over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef and drain off any excess fat. For a quick review, check out my video on “How to Brown Beef”.

Add one can of Rotel tomatoes…

…which are diced tomatoes with green chilies.

Using a colander, drain one can of black beans in the sink, rinse, and drain again, and add them to the frying pan as well.

Mix everything together and simmer for about 5 minutes.

At this point you could add 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder if you wish.

Remove the pan from the heat and add 2 cups of cooked rice…

…and 1 and 1/2 cups of pre-shredded Mexican four-cheese blend. (This is a great time-saving way to buy cheese for cooking. Most grocery stores always carry both a Mexican blend and an Italian blend.)

Stir everything together.

Filling the Peppers

(A note: Many recipes have you blanch the cleaned peppers in a large pot of boiling salted water for about 3 minutes before adding the filling. I prefer the peppers to have a bit of a crunch to them, rather than being really soft. Consequently my recipe does not call for blanching the peppers before filling them.)

With a spoon, fill the peppers with the filling.

They should fit snugly in the baking dish!

Cover the baking dish with tin foil and put them in a 375 F. degree preheated oven.

Bake the covered peppers for about 40 minutes and then remove the tin foil…

…and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes until tops are slightly browned and pepper skin can be pierced easily with a fork.

I served these beautiful stuffed peppers with butternut squash and they were fantastic!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie for Beginners

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Store-bought pie crusts are great for someone just learning how to cook. Making your own pastry can be challenging for a beginner cook. For this Pumpkin Pie recipe, you can just purchase a ready-made pastry crust from your grocer’s freezer. Do not defrost the pie crust. We are going to make the pumpkin filling and pour it right into the frozen crust.

The pumpkins shown above are part of my centerpiece arrangement. The pie is actually made with pumpkin from a can.

For the filling you will need:

1 15-oz can of pumpkin
1 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
3 teaspoons of Pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Description of the Ingredients

Canned pumpkin is already cooked and pureed (mashed) so all you have to do is open the can and it is ready to use. Be sure to buy canned pumpkin and NOT pumpkin pie filling in a can. (In the USA) canned pumpkin is not found in the canned vegetable aisle. It is actually sold with all the baking products - right near the flour, sugar, and baking soda. Who knew?

There is a HUGE difference between sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. This recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk.

Evaporated milk has no added sugar and is slightly thicker and richer than regular milk. (I used it to make my Pumpkin Soup and my Stove Top Mac and Cheese.) Sweetened condensed milk is very thick and very sweet. They are not interchangeable ingredients.

Evaporated Milk and Sweetened Condensed Milk

Pumpkin Pie Spice is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. It is easier and less expensive to buy one small jar of spice blend rather than four separate jars of spices. You can mix the leftover pumpkin pie spice with some sugar and sprinkle it on toast or cottage cheese. Or you could add it to Butternut Squash instead of cinnamon.

Let’s startcooking!

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Be careful — that’s a really HOT oven! It will take about 15 minutes for your oven to get that hot. You are only going to cook your pie for 15 minutes at that temperature. You’ll then turn the oven down to 350 degrees, and continue cooking the pie for about another 30 minutes.

Crack two eggs into a medium bowl. (Check to make sure there are no shells in the bowl!)

Add to the bowl the canned pumpkin, the sweetened condensed milk, the pumpkin pie spice, and the salt.

Whisk everything together. It should get really well combined and look like the picture below when it is ready to all pour into the pie shell.

Set the unbaked, frozen pie shell on a baking sheet with sides. This is going to make it much easier to lift the pie in and out of the oven.

Pour the filling into the frozen pie shell.

The filling is going to come almost to the top edge.

Immediately put the pie into the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes.

When the timer goes off, lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and reset the timer for 30 minutes.

You will also need to cover the edges of the pie with tin foil. Otherwise they will get way too browned.

The way you check to see if the pie is ready to come out of the oven is to stick a knife into the pie about one inch in from the edge of the crust.

If the knife comes out clean, the pie is done. Depending on your oven you may need to continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes. Let the pie cool completely before serving it. It will deflate slightly when cooled.

A great way to serve this pie is with a big dollop of fresh whipped cream, or a nice big squirt of cream from a can!

Enjoy!

Recipe: Pumpkin Pie for Beginners

serves 6

1 can of pumpkin (15 ounces)
1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
2 eggs
3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 9 inch unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin pie spice and salt until smooth.

Pour into unbaked crust and bake for 15 minutes.

Cover the edges of the pie with tin foil.

REDUCE OVEN TEMPERATURE TO 350 and continue baking for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted 1 inch from the crust comes out clean.

Cool. Garnish with whip cream.

Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Adapted from: Eagle Brand

Pumpkin Soup without the Fuss

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0500

The reason I call this recipe “Pumpkin Soup without the Fuss” is because it’s made from canned pumpkin which has been already cooked and mashed. Canned pumpkin tastes great and it is a huge time saver!

For this recipe you will need:

1 Tablespoon of butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon of brown sugar
2 cups of chicken stock
1 cup of applesauce (plain or cinnamon)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 16 ounce of pumpkin
8-12 ounces of evaporated milk

In addition to the canned pumpkin, the only other ingredient you may not be familiar with is evaporated milk. (I have used it in my “Stove-top Macaroni and Cheese” recipe.) Evaporated milk is just slightly thicker than regular milk but it is very rich. It will make this soup really creamy and very rich tasting. A low fat version is available. (Be sure not to confuse evaporated milk with sweetened condensed milk. They are often sold side-by-side.)

You need to chop one medium onion. If you don’t know how to chop an onion, there is a demonstration of it here: How to Mince, Dice and Chop Onions.

Get all of remaining ingredients measured and ready to go. That really only involves measuring the brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. If you are using chicken stock made from a bullion cube you will need to reconstitute the cube in boiling water.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium pot.

Add the onions and cook them until they are soft, about 7-10 minutes. Give them an occasional stir.

Now add the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and applesauce and cook everything for about 4 minutes.

After 4 minutes it will look like the picture below.

Add the pumpkin and chicken stock, and stir everything together. It will be pretty thick.

Bring the pot to a boil. Turn the temperature down to simmer and cover the pot.

Set the timer for about 20 minutes. Be sure to give the soup an occasional stir.

Pour in enough evaporated milk until the soup reaches your desired thickness. I like about 8 ounces of evaporated buy you may want your soup thinner or thicker.

Be sure to add a few grinds of fresh black pepper.

The really great thing about this soup is that aside from the onion, all the other ingredients needed to make this soup come straight from your food cupboard. Next time you go grocery shopping be sure to add the ingredients for this soup to your list. On a cold evening a delicious pot of pumpkin soup can be ready for dinner in no time!

I have added a special touch to my soup by topping it with some cinnamon croutons!

Enjoy!

LINKS:

Pumpkin Nutrition

Ramen (and Pumpkin!): Nikas Culinaria

Chicken Stock: The Perfect Pantry

My video onFrench onion soup!

Recipe: Pumpkin Soup without the Fuss

serves 4

1 tablespoon of butter
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
2 cups of chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1 cup of applesauce
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 can of pumpkin (16 ounces)
8 ounces of evaporated milk (You can add up to 12 ounces)

Melt 1 Tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add chopped onions and cook for about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add applesauce, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring often.

Add pumpkin and chicken stock and bring to a boil

Reduce the heat and cook 20 minutes. Remove form the heat and stir in enough evaporated milk until it reaches your desired thickness.

How to Roast Chestnuts

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0500

On a recent visit to New York City, the weather was cold and crisp. On such days, my husband (David) and I always share a small brown bag full of freshly roasted chestnuts from one of the street vendors who seem to be on every other NYC street corner. After letting the chestnuts cool down for a few minutes, David always peels these delightful treasures so I don’t have to take my mittens off! They are so rich, sweet and tender!

When I saw fresh chestnuts at the grocery store, I thought it would be great to roast some at home for startcooking. For comparison sake, I bought a jar of pre-packaged chestnuts as well.

Before I begin, I would like to point out that Water Chestnuts are from an aquatic plant and are a totally different food than the chestnuts (from a tree) that I am about to roast.

To Roast Chestnuts:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.

Wipe the chestnuts off with a damp towel and set them on a cutting board, flat side down.

With a small, sharp knife cut an X in each chestnut. (There are special chestnut-X-cutting knives that you can buy - see comments below. I would only recommend buying one of these knives if you roast a TON of chestnuts.) The X allows the steam to escape while they are cooking. (Do not omit this step, otherwise the chestnuts could explode in the oven!) This will also make peeling a lot easier.

For safety sake, you may feel more comfortable cushioning the chestnut on a (clean) dish towel to cut the X.

Put the chestnuts in a baking pan with the X facing up.

It will take 20-30 minutes to roast the chestnuts. When cooked, the shells will burst open, and the chestnut will be golden brown. The tricky part is actually knowing when they are done. If you over-cook OR under-cook them, they will get hard and the inner skin will be very difficult to remove.

Now comes the hard part: peeling them! You need to peel them while they are still warm. Let them cool just enough so that you can touch them, then start peeling. Be very careful not to burn your fingers!

Be sure to buy extra, because once they are open you may well discover that some have actually turned bad and are not edible.

This task is not as easy as David makes it look. My thumb is killing me!

So now comes the test: comparing the fresh chestnuts to the ones from the jar. There are four things to consider:

Appearance
Taste and Texture
Price
Convenience

Freshly Roasted (on the left) Vs. From a Jar

1. Appearance
First let me say that the chestnuts I bought from Whole Foods did not end up looking at all like the magnificent ones from the street vendor. (Of course the 7 or 8 chestnuts from the street vendor that actually end up in your brown bag don’t look like the ones they have on display either!)

The ones from the jar have a preserved look about them.

2. Taste and Texture
They both tasted delicious but the ones from the jar actually had a moister texture.

3. Price
The 17 fresh chestnuts from Whole foods cost $4.67

I ended up with 12 usable ones. (Yes there are only 11 in the above photo because I ate one!) Two I could not get peeled, two disintegrated when I tried to peel them and one was rotten.

The 7.4 ounce jar cost $8.99. 100% were usable.

4. Convenience
When I was a kid, whenever my mom would bake, we would always have to shell the walnuts. (Way back then!) It was significantly cheaper to buy unshelled walnuts. It is a very labor intensive activity. Today, having to shell your own nuts sounds like it is on par with having to go milk the cow to get fresh milk! Peeling your own chestnuts is not an easy task!

Conclusion:

All in all, my first preference is to buy them off the street vendor in NYC. ONLY as a special treat, is it worth the effort to roast the chestnuts yourself. The look, the taste and the aroma is wonderful.

BUT, for use in a recipe, I would probably skip roasting them myself and just buy the jar!

Cheers!

Guacamole

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Guacamole with corn chips is a great addition to any party menu!

The ingredients needed to make guacamole are:

2 avocados, peeled and pitted
2 cloves of garlic
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
3 teaspoons of freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
1 tablespoon of j alapeño slices, chopped
1/2 teaspoon of hot pepper sauce
salt
pepper

When using avocados, planning ahead is essential. If you try to make guacamole with a hard, under-ripe avocado, both the texture and the taste will be all wrong. When buying avocados, buy the ones that yield to gentle pressure but are not soft or mushy. Fortunately, you can speed up the ripening process by placing hard avocados in a brown paper bag for a couple of days. (That’s why you need to plan ahead!)

Check out my previous posts on how to crush garlic, squeeze juice from a lemon or lime and how to clean and cut jalapeno peppers, because they are what we are gong to tackle first.

Be sure to use fresh limes (or lemons) and fresh garlic and fresh jalapenos for this recipe.

Let’s start cooking!

Crush 2 cloves of garlic.

Squeeze 1/2 of a fresh lime; we will need 2 teaspoons of the juice.

Seed 1 jalapeño pepper and dice it into about 1/8 inch bits. (I always wear disposable gloves when cutting hot chili peppers!)

Cut one tomato in half with the stem end to the right of the knife blade. It is not necessary to peel the tomato.

Squeeze out all the seeds.

Chop the tomato into about ¼ inch bits.

Cut two avocados lengthwise (rather than making the cut around the width.)

Separate the two pieces.

Leave the avocado on the cutting board and give the pit a thwack with a big sharp knife.

Give the knife a twist and carefully remove the pit.

Pinch the pit off the knife with your thumb and forefinger and throw it away.

With a spoon, scoop out the avocado.

It’s OK to put the skin down the garbage disposer, but I just throw the pit in the trash. (It’s sort of like throwing a golf ball in the disposer. You just wouldn’t do it!)

For this chunky guacamole, I like to use a fork to mash it. You could also use a potato masher if you like.

Now add the other prepared ingredients to the avocado. Don't forget the hot pepper sauce!

With a spoon gently blend everything together.

Give it a taste and see if you need to add some salt and pepper.

It’s important to note that, once exposed to air, an avocado discolors very quickly. Adding lime or lemon juice helps to prevent discoloration. It is widely believed that an avocado pit left in guacamole will help to maintain the lush green color. Wrong! Stick with the lemon or lime juice.

By the way, avocados are almost always eaten raw. They actually turn bitter when they are cooked. Who knew?

Enjoy!

Recipe: Guacamole

serves 2

2 avocados - peeled and pitted
3 teaspoons of freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
1 medium tomato - finely chopped
2 teaspoons of garlic - crushed
1/2 teaspoon of hot pepper sauce
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of black pepper
1 tablespoon of jalapeno slices - chopped

Cut and peel avocados into a bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher.

Now add the other prepared ingredients to the avocado and stir.

Serve with cornchips.

How to Cut and Peel an Avocado: A Basic Guide

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Avocados are a fruit, (yes a fruit) that contains (unsaturated) fat. That’s what gives them that wonderfully rich, buttery taste. There are a lot of varieties of avocado but the two that are most readily available here in Boston are the Hass and the Fuerte.

The Fuerte avocado has a smooth thin green skin while the Hass is darker, almost black, with a pebbly textured skin. Many people prefer to use the darker (Hass) ones because they have a richer more pronounced flavor. (Unfortunately, they also have a few more calories than the Fuerte avocado.)

When using avocados, planning ahead is essential. For example, if you try to make guacamole with a hard, under-ripe avocado, neither the texture nor the taste will be very pleasant.

Buy avocados that yield to gentle pressure but are not soft or mushy. Unfortunately, this kind of avocado is difficult to find in many grocery stores since avocados, like bananas, continue to ripen even when they have been taken off the tree. Your supermarket will often buy fresh-picked avocados, so you usually don’t have any choice but to buy a really hard avocado.

Fortunately, you can hasten the ripening process by placing the hard avocados in a brown paper bag for 2-4 days. As with bananas, you can speed up the ripening process by sticking an apple (preferably a green Granny Smith apple) in the bag as well. (It’s the ethylene from the apple that does the trick!)

How to Cut and Peel an Avocado

Begin by cutting two avocados lengthwise rather than making the cut around the width.

(It will be virtually impossible to remove the pit if you slice it in half around the fat part.)

Separate the two pieces. Leave the avocado on the cutting board and (CAREFULLY!) give the pit a thwack with a big sharp knife.

Twist the knife and the pit should pop out.

If you now put the back of the knife against your palm, you should be able to pinch the pit off of the knife with your thumb and fore finger, with no danger of getting cut. (I'm right handed so I would continue to hold the knife in my right hand and put the back of the knife in my left palm to remove the pit from the knife.)

With a spoon...

...scoop out the avocado.

It’s OK to put the skin down the garbage disposer, but I just throw the pit (actually called the stone) in the trash. The stone is about as hard as a golf ball!

It’s important to note that, once exposed to air, avocado discolors very quickly. Adding lime or lemon juice helps to prevent discoloration. It is widely believed that an avocado pit left in guacamole will help to maintain the lush green color. Wrong. Stick with the lemon or lime juice.

Avocados are almost always eaten raw. If your recipe calls for adding the avocado to something hot, do it at the very last minute, just before serving. They actually turn bitter when they are cooked...Who knew?

How to Make (And Use) Whipped Cream

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister, Jessica Howard) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Real whipped cream has a decadent taste and texture. Whipped cream imposters are convenient, but there is nothing like the real thing!

The butter fat content of whipping cream is what gives it that great taste and texture. (My post How to: Milks and Creams will give you a better understanding of many different dairy products.)

It is possible to buy real whipped cream in a can, but even then, you get an airier product that liquefies faster than homemade. So, it’s definitely worth knowing how to whip up the real thing. So let’s get started!

What You Need to Make Whipped Cream

A carton of Whipping cream, (or Double cream in the UK.) Some other kinds of cream can be whipped, but not all. Here's a link which will explain the different kinds of cream and their uses.
A bowl (metal is preferred for chilling, but you can also use a glass bowl)
An electric hand mixer, or a wire whisk

Here Are the Three Easy Steps to Making Whipped Cream

Start by chilling the cream, the bowl and the beaters or whisk in the freezer for 10 to 20 minutes
Pour one cup of whipping cream into the bowl and beat until it holds soft peaks. Soft peaks should fold over when the beaters or whisk are lifted. If using an electric mixer, start on medium speed to prevent splattering, then speed up. If using a whisk, circle it vigorously in the cream, watching as it thickens. It’s a workout for your arm and shoulder! You’ll know you’ve over-beaten it if the consistency starts to turn buttery.
Once soft peaks start to form, you can add sugar (one or two tablespoons), and any other flavorings you like. Beat again until soft peaks form.

The Ingredients:

Start beating and once the cream begins to thicken (soft peaks). Add 1 Tablespoon of sugar...

...and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Continue beating...

until the cream reaches desired consistency (do not over beat!).

Tips for a Successful Whipped Cream

One cup of whipping cream makes about 2 cups of whipped cream.
For flavoring, one teaspoon of vanilla is often added per cup of whipping cream. But the flavoring possibilities are endless; you can add other flavor extracts, liqueurs, or powdered cocoa. There are lots of flavored whipped cream recipes to try - even bourbon!
If you’re using whipped cream on a dessert that will be sitting out for a while, adding icing sugar, rather than granulated sugar, in step 2 will help it keep its shape
Whipped cream can be kept covered in the fridge for about three days - but it will begin to break down if you have not added any stabilizer to it.

How to Use Whipped Cream:

Put a dollop on strawberries or fruit salad
Use it to top pies, cakes, fruit crisps, pancakes, French toast or waffles
Add a spoonful to hot chocolate, or to an after-dinner coffee
Kids will want to get into it if there’s food coloring involved. Try adding a few drops of their favorite color.
A dollop on top of a pumpkin pie, pecan pie, or chocolate fudge pie looks great and tastes even better!

Recipe: Whipped Cream

serves 4

1 cup of whipping cream
1 tablespoon of sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional)

Start by chilling the cream, the bowl and the beaters or whisk in the freezer for 10 to 20 minutes.

Pour one cup of whipping cream into the bowl and beat until it holds soft peaks. Soft peaks should fold over when the beaters or whisk are lifted. If using an electric mixer, start on medium speed to prevent splattering, and then speed up. If using a whisk, circle it vigorously in the cream, watching as it thickens. You’ll know you’ve over-beaten it if the consistency starts to turn buttery.

Once soft peaks start to form, you can add sugar (one or two tablespoons), and any other flavorings you like. Beat again until soft peaks form.

Makes 2 cups

Pie Crust - Ready Made

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:00:00 -0500

For some people, making your own pie crust is almost as scary as speaking in front of a large crowd! Fortunately there is a way around this. You can make both sweet and savory pies by buying a ready made pie crust at the grocery store. Here are a few basics that will help when using pre-made store-bought pie crusts.

You can buy a pie crust all ready to use in the frozen food section of the grocery store.

These come in a disposable tin pie dish. You definitely need to set this type of crust on a baking sheet with sides when you put it in the oven.

Pillsbury makes a great pie crust. You can buy this one in the dairy section of the grocery store.

The box contains two rolls of pasty, in case you want to make a “two-crust” pie like an apple pie. One roll would be for the bottom and the other would be for the top.

A one-crust pie, like for a quiche , pumpkin pie (shown below) or a pecan pie, has only a bottom crust.

Freeze the leftover roll. Be sure to use it within about 2 months: after that, it really starts to dry out in the freezer.

When working with this pastry, the trick is to make sure it is almost at room temperature when you unroll it.

If it is too cold, you might tear it. If it is too warm you may stretch it. Unroll it right over your pie dish.

Gently press it into the shape of the pie dish.

If the dough is hanging over the side of the dish, turn the edges under.

You could then press the edges down with the tines of a fork all the way around the edge of the dish. (Did you know the prongs of a fork were called officially tines? Great trivia question!)

Or you could crimp the edges with your forefinger of one hand pushed between the forefinger and thumb of your other hand.

You many actually find it easier to use your knuckle instead of your forefinger.

You end up with a lovely decorative edge all the way around the pie.

If your recipe calls for a pre-baked “shell”, this is when you would prick the sides and bottom of the dough with a fork and put it in the oven and bake it according to the directions on the package. Ice cream pies and pudding pies (like chocolate cream pie) usually need a pre-baked crust.

Recipes will often say to put tin foil around the edges of your pie so that the crust does not burn. You could just tear off some strips of tin foil but making them stay in place is often a bit tricky.

Rose Levy Beranbaum, who wrote the The Pie and Pastry Bible, suggests making a foil ring. (By the way this is probably one of the best and most comprehensive books on making pies. There are very few photos and the book is as big as a door stop, but it is excellent!)

Making a foil ring:

Tear off a piece of heavy-duty foil a few inches larger then the diameter to the pie. Cut a circle bigger than your pie dish. (As a guide, use a really large pot lid or a pizza pan). To mark a cutout in the center, use a bowl or a smaller pot lid.

Leave at least a 3-inch border. The hole in the center of the circle will expose the pie’s surface but not the edge of the pie. Use a pair of scissors, to cut out the circle. Shape it so that it will curve over the rim of the pie crust. (Don’t press it down on the pie crust. I should just be sitting on to of the crust.

Cover the edges of the crust after the first 15 minutes of baking. They will continue to brown, though more slowly beneath the foil.

There are some bakers that put the foil on the pie before sticking it in the oven. There are advantages to doing it this way in that you are not trying to fit this tinfoil ring on a very hot pie. Your best bet is to fit the ring on the pie before you put the pie in the oven.

After 15 minutes you can then just slip the tinfoil in place and you should end up with a perfect pie!

You can also buy pre-made cracker crusts...

...or make your own Graham Cracker Pie Crust!

Chocolate Fudge Pie with Graham Cracker Crust

Cheers!

Tuscan Bean Soup

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:00:00 -0500

If you are just learning to cook, making a nice hearty pot of soup is a great way to develop confidence in the kitchen and end up with a fantastic dinner as well! Soups are very forgiving. If you don’t have the exact ingredient on hand, you can often make a substitution or two, and it doesn’t matter if your chopping is uneven.

The fresh ingredients you will need for this recipe are onion, baby spinach, garlic, carrot, celery, fresh rosemary, thyme and basil.

I would not advise using dried herbs with this recipe. FRESH thyme, rosemary, and basil make a big difference in the taste of this soup.

Fresh Thyme, Rosemary and Basil

From your food cupboard (or the grocery store) you will need three kinds of beans, vegetable or chicken broth, olive oil, and canned diced tomatoes. Either plain or seasoned diced tomatoes will be fine.

(Broth is the strained liquid left from cooking vegetables, meat, or fish in water. It is often used as a synonym for bullion. Stock is basically the same thing but cooked more slowly and has a more intense flavor than broth. Bullion cubes or granules are compressed stock that needs to be dissolved before using.)

As always, get all your ingredients prepared and measured before you turn on the stove!

Preparing the Ingredients:

Carrots – Dice (or chop into small pieces) two carrots, which will yield about 1 cup. It is easier to dice a carrot if you cut the carrot so that it has a flat surface. The picture below shows the stages (left to right) I use to turn a whole carrot into a diced carrot.

Celery – Dice two stalks of celery. As with the carrot, first cutting the celery into strips will make dicing the celery easier.

Onion – 1 large onion will yield approximately 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups of diced onions. For a quick review on how to dice and onion, click here. To make dicing easier, be sure to leave the root end intact.

Garlic – To make two teaspoons of crushed garlic, you will need approximately 2-3 garlic cloves.

The Herbs

Rosemary, thyme and basil leaves need to be removed form their stems and finely chopped. (The pictures below show, from left to right, the stages of preparing the herbs from the way you get them in the store to the way you use them in the recipe.)

Here’s the rosemary:

Now, the thyme.

From left to right below, you can see the fresh thyme, the stems with the leaves removed, the whole leaves and the chopped leaves. (Throw the stems away!)

Finally, the basil. Stack the basil leaves and slice them into fine “ribbons”. Jon points out a quick tip for cutting the basil into ribbons. After you have washed the leaves put a pile one on top of another and then roll them up from tip to toe until you have a fat cigar of basil. It's then easy to slice across the roll getting you nice slice. This is called a “chiffonade”. Again, just throw the stems away.

After you have rinsed and drained all the beans in a colander, all the ingredients will be prepared.

Cooking the Soup

Using a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers (about 1 minute.)

Add the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic and cook these vegetables for about 3-to-4 minutes.

Add the can of diced tomatoes. (The tomatoes I used were in a puree but just a can of plain diced tomatoes works fine as well.)

Add the beans…

…and the broth…

…and the herbs.

Give everything a stir…

…and cover the pot.

Bring everything to a boil, and then turn the heat down to simmer. Cook the soup on "simmer" (a very low temperature) for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Add the baby spinach to the top of the soup. (Even "Pre-washed" spinach should get washed before using. You can wash the baby spinach leaves the same way you wash lettuce.)

It will take about one minute for the baby spinach to wilt (go all limp).

This Tuscan Bean Soup is ready to serve!

The flavors in this soup really develop in time. You can make this the day before serving it and it will taste even better by the next day! If you are going to be making the soup in advance, add the baby spinach just before you serve it so that it retains that nice bright green color.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Tuscan Bean Soup

serves 6

1 1/2 cups of yellow onions - diced
1 cup of celery - diced
1 cup of carrots - diced
2 teaspoons of garlic
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 can of kidney beans (15.5 ounce) - rinsed and drained
1 can of cannellini beans (15.5 ounce) - rinsed and drained
1 can of chick peas (15.5 ounce) - rinsed and drained
1 can of diced tomatoes (14-ounce)
6 cups of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons of fresh basil
8 ounces of baby spinach - washed

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.

Sauté the onion, celery, carrot and garlic for 3 to 4 minutes.

Finely chop the FRESH rosemary, thyme, and basil and add them to the pot.

Add the diced tomatoes, the kidney beans, cannellini beans, chick peas, and the chicken stock.

Bring the pot to a boil and then turn down heat to simmer. Simmer for approximately 10-12 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Add the spinach, and recover the pot. It will take approximately 1-2 minutes for the spinach to wilt.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Adapted from: Emeril

Bean Salad Tex-Mex Style

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:00:00 -0500

This cold bean salad tastes as good as it looks!

The ingredient list, may look kind of long at first glance, but chances are you just might have most of the ingredients for the dressing already in your cupboard! (Olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, salt, garlic, cumin, and black pepper)

Dressing Ingredients

That just leaves buying the canned beans and corn, bell peppers, and red onion.

Start by rinsing and draining all the beans and the canned corn in a colander.

Then chop the red and green bell peppers, and mince the red onion. (My Vegetable and Dip video will show you how to cut and clean the peppers. Once they are cut into strips, it is just a matter of then lining them up and chopping them up.

Mix together the beans, corn, chopped peppers, and minced onions in a large bowl.

Now for the dressing:

In a medium bowl, whisk together:

1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of red wine vinegar
3 Tablespoons of lemon juice
2 Tablespoons of white sugar
2 teaspoons of salt
1 clove of crushed garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons of ground black pepper

Notice how I used one measuring cup to measure both the oil and vinegar together. Saves on clean-up!

Be sure to use fresh lemon juice.

You will only need about 1 teaspoon of fresh crushed garlic.

Garlic - Sliced, Minced, and Crushed

The photo below shows all the dressing ingredients whisked together. Feel free to add a few drops of hot sauce if you like.

Now pour the dressing over the bean mixture.

Mix everything together.

Cilantro is another optional ingredient, often found in Tex-Mex dishes. If you like cilantro, add 1/4 cup - minced to the salad. (You can wash and chop it as you would parsley.) Cilantro has a very distinctive flavor and aroma which people either love or hate! 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro is just enough. A great substitution for cilantro is actually a combination of parsley and mint.

Parsley, Cilantro, and Mint

You may be thinking there is way too much dressing for this salad.

However, the bean salad needs to marinate in the dressing for a couple of hours (in the refrigerator) for all the flavors to meld together. Be sure to cover this salad with plastic wrap and let it chill completely before serving. If there are any leftovers, drain off the excess dressing and store the bean salad in the refrigerator. It will keep for about two days!

Enjoy!

Recipe: Bean salad tex-mex style

serves 8

1 can of black beans (15 ounces) - rinsed and drained
1 can of kidney beans (15 ounces) - rinsed and drained
1 can of cannellini beans (15 ounces) - rinsed and drained
1 green bell pepper - chopped
1 red bell pepper - chopped
1 can of corn (7-8 ounces) - drained
1 red onion - minced
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of white sugar
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of garlic - crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons of ground black pepper

In a large bowl, combine the beans, chopped peppers, corn, and minced red onion.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, salt, garlic, cumin, and black pepper. Mix well.

Pour dressing over beans.

Season to taste with hot sauce.

Chill thoroughly, and serve cold.

Baked Potato with Salsa

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Baked potatoes are a quick and satisfying “comfort food” that CAN be healthy as well. Mary’s comment in “Cooking Potatoes in the Microwave” got me thinking about one of my favorite ways to eat baked potatoes.

In restaurants, you are often offered butter, sour cream, and bacon to go with your baked potato, and, of course, you can make them this way at home as a wonderful occasional splurge. But in my household, non-fat plain yogurt is more the norm. You get a similar “mouth sensation” without quite so many calories!

I bake the potato in the microwave, and then I give it a bash before cutting it in half.

This breaks up the fibers and makes it all easier to spoon out or eat with your fork. (Note: Be sure you put a clean cloth or paper towel between your fist and the hot potato or you will get burnt).

Then give it a squeeze and the potato should be nice and fluffy.

From there, I add a small sprinkle of salt and several twists from the pepper grinder.

Sometimes I then add about 1/3 cup of salsa. If you haven’t tried salsa on your baked potato, you don’t know what you are missing. There are so many really great flavors of salsa; you really can’t go wrong with any of them! It’s not necessary to heat the salsa. The potato is so hot the salsa will actually cool it down to the perfect temperature!

I then top it with about 1/3 cup of plain yogurt. If I have green onions in the house, chop them up and add them too. It looks great, and the flavor is fantastic!

When cutting green onions, remember the white part is much stronger than the green part!

What’s your favorite baked potato topping?

Recipe: Baked potato with salsa

serves 1

1 baked potato
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of black pepper
1/3 cup of salsa
1/3 cup of plain, non-fat yoghurt
1 green onion - chopped

Bake the potato in the microwave and then cut it in half.

Sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste.

Top with salsa and yogurt.

Garnish with chopped green onion.

Cold Salmon with Creamy Mustard Sauce

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0500

On a warm night, no one wants to spend time in a hot kitchen cooking. If you take just a few minutes in the morning to microwave salmon, it will be ready and waiting for you to have cold for dinner. This cold salmon is also perfect to serve year round for brunch or lunch.

Salmon actually tastes fantastic when it is served cold. This one-pound piece of salmon will make 4 servings and take about 5 minutes to cook in the microwave.

I’m going to give you a quick review, but do check out my video on Baked Cod and Microwave Salmon.

The salmon will cook more evenly if it gets cut, in advance of cooking, into serving size pieces.

Put the salmon in a microwave-safe dish. Drizzle on some fresh squeezed lemon juice.

Sprinkle on some salt and freshly ground pepper.

Cover the salmon with plastic wrap, leaving a vent for the steam to escape.

I like my salmon cooked completely through, so I am going to microwave this on high for 5 minutes. All microwaves are different. Yours may take a little less or a little more time.

Once it is cooked let it cool.

If the skin is still on the bottom of your salmon, either cut it off or just peel it off with your fingers. The skin doesn’t look or taste that great when you are serving COLD salmon.

Put the salmon on a decorative platter and garnish (decorate) it with lemon and parsley. Cover it with some plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat.

For the sauce, mix together:

1/2 cup of sour cream

2 Tablespoons of mustard (Dijon)

2 Tablespoons of honey

2 teaspoons of lime juice

The Dijon mustard adds a really sharp taste to this sauce. You may want to add a bit less if you prefer it less “hot”. Keep in mind that when serving anything cold, you need to season it a bit more heavily.

Rather than using my lemon juicer, I just squeezed two wedges of lime juice into the sauce.

Pour the sauce into a nice serving bowl.

Serve the sauce on the side with some steamed asparagus and fresh tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Cold salmon with creamy mustard sauce

serves 4

1 pound of salmon
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of pepper
1/2 cup of sour cream
2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of honey
2 teaspoons of lime juice

Put salmon in microwave safe dish.

Drizzle lemon juice over the salmon.

Sprinkle on salt and pepper.

Cover with plastic wrap and cook in the microwave on high for about 5 minutes.

Remove skin, garnish with lemons and parsley.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Sauce: Mix together sour cream, Dijon mustard, honey, and lime juice. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Spaghetti Squash

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0500

There are many varieties of squash available at the grocery store and farm stands. Spaghetti squash, also know as calabash squash or vegetable spaghetti, is really quite unique because when cooked looks like thin translucent strands of thin spaghetti. It has a mild, delicate flavor somewhat like that of yellow summer squash and watery texture.

Spaghetti squash has a rounded shape and can vary in weight and size. The ones I bought weighed almost four pounds and were about 9 inches long.

When you buy spaghetti squash, it should have a nice lemon yellow color. If it is green it means that it is under ripe.

Washing and Cleaning Spaghetti Squash

Begin by washing the squash with a vegetable brush under running water.

Dry it well so that it does not slip when you are cutting into the squash.

To cut spaghetti squash you need a big, heavy kitchen knife. Cut the squash in half, lengthwise.

Cutting the squash is the most difficult part of preparing the squash! It is like making that first cut into a melon, which can be tricky if you are not using a knife that can handle the task.

Once open, you can see there are seeds and stringy bits that need to get removed. (Just like with butternut squash or pumpkins.)

Using a spoon, scrape away the seeds and stringy bits….

…until the inside is clean.

Cooking Spaghetti Squash

I’m going to show you how to roast spaghetti squash in the oven and also how to cook it in the microwave. Normally these two cooking methods provide very different results. Roasting vegetables often makes them crispy and brings out their natural sweetness. Surprisingly enough, there is virtually no difference in the taste or texture when spaghetti squash is cooked in the oven vs. the microwave!

Oven Method:

Preheat the oven to 400º F ( = 200º C = gas mark 6-moderately hot.)

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on cut side of the squash and rub it around with your fingers.

Sprinkle on some salt and pepper.

Place the squash, cut side down in an oven-proof dish.

Depending on the size of your squash, it will take approximately 35-45 minutes to get tender.

Microwave Method:

Place the squash in a microwave-safe dish…

…cut side down.

Cover the dish with plastic wrap…

…being sure to leave a steam vent.

Cook the squash on high for approximately 7-10 minutes - depending on the size of your squash and how powerful your microwave is. If you do not have an automatic turntable in your microwave, give the dish a turn every 3 minutes to ensure even cooking.

Remove the plastic wrap with a pair of tongs and be very careful of the built up steam.

Note: I do not recommend cooking the squash WHOLE in the microwave. Some recipes have you pierce the whole squash about 20 or 30 times with a knife (so the squash does not explode in the microwave). Then stick it in the microwave whole. It is very difficult to cut and remove the seeds and stringy bits from a steaming hot squash.

How to Make the Squash Look Like Spaghetti

Once you have removed the squash from the oven or microwave, check to see if it is cooked by sticking a knife into it. The knife should slide in easily.

If you have over cooked the squash it will taste fine but the texture will be creamy and you will not be able to make the spaghetti like strands.

Flip the squash over with a spatula so that the cut side is facing up. (Be careful as it will be very hot!)

The above photo is of the oven roasted squash

Using a dinner fork, scrape the flesh of the squash….

…moving gently around the shell….

…fluffing up the strands of squash.

Turning the squash into spaghetti strands takes about 10 seconds!

You can then serve the squash as is or remove it to a serving plate. It will be very hot so hold the squash in a dish cloth so you don’t burn your hand.

The above photo is of the microwave cooked squash

Decision time! What do I now do with this squash?

You can eat it as is or dress it up with your favorite spaghetti sauce.

I like to add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese, a drizzle of basil infused olive oil, and some salt and pepper!

Enjoy!

P.S. Just for the heck of it, I tried freezing the leftover spaghetti squash. WRONG! It turned into spaghetti squash mush. It tasted fine but the spaghetti texture did not hold up at all!

Recipe: Spaghetti Squash

serves 6

1 medium spaghetti squash (about 3 pounds)
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese - grated
3 tablespoons of butter (or olive oil)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of black pepper

Half the squash lengthwise and remove and discard the seeds.

Place the squash, cut side down in a microwave safe baking dish.

Cook the squash on high for approximately 7-10 minutes, depending on the size of your squash and how powerful your microwave is. If you do not have an automatic turntable in your microwave, give the dish a turn every 3 minutes to ensure even cooking.

Using a dinner fork, rake the squash into spaghetti-like strands from the shell.

Toss the squash with parmesan cheese, butter or olive oil, salt and pepper.

Garnish with freshly chopped basil, oregano, or parsley.

Taco Salad

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0500

A Taco salad is a hearty meal. It’s filling, satisfying and a great way to get non-salad eaters to eat salad.

To make four servings you will need salad fixings (video) - I'm using:

4 cups of shredded lettuce
1 cup of tomatoes - diced
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 small purple onion - thinly sliced

For the Taco part of the salad you will need:

1 pound of ground beef
1 eight-ounce bottle of Catalina salad dressing
1 packet of Taco seasoning mix

Catalina salad dressing is a sweet, tomato based dressing that has a beautiful bright red color.

Start by browning the beef in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. (Check out my video on Browning Ground Beef!)

Then drain off and discard the excess fat.

Return the beef to the pan and sprinkle on the Taco Seasoning mix.

Add the dressing

Fill the empty dressing bottle half full with water, and then add that to the pan as well. Mix everything together.

Bring everything to a boil, and then reduce the heat to simmer.

Simmer for 20-25 minutes.

After 20 minutes it will look like this:

While the beef is simmering, prepare the salad fixings (video):

You can prepare the green salad with whatever salad fixings you like. I like green-leaf lettuce. It’s a beautiful bright green color and does not have a really strong flavor. Click here if you are unsure how to wash lettuce. Once washed, chop the lettuce into bite sized pieces.

You can chop up one large tomato or slice in half some grape or cherry tomatoes.

Pile the salad onto individual serving plates. (Do not add extra dressing to the salad. You won’t need it once the beef and cheese are added!) The warm beef slightly wilts the salad and the cheese gets slightly melted from the warm taco mixture as well. (I added crunchy cucumbers and some sliced purple onion as well!)

Enjoy!

Recipe: Taco Salad

serves 4

1 pound of ground beef
1 packet/envelope of taco seasoning mix
8 ounces of Catalina dressing
4 ounces of water
4 cups of shredded lettuce
1 cup of tomatoes - diced
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 small purple onion - thinly sliced

In a large frying pan, over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef. Drain and discard excess fat.

Stir in the packet of taco seasoning mix and the Catalina salad dressing. Add 4 ounces of water.

Bring to boil, and reduce heat to simmer.

Simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Divide salad fixings onto four plates. Top each serving with one quarter of the taco beef mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top.

Adapted from: Big Y

V-Slicer or Mandolin

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0500

I love my V-Slicer! It cost $29. and was one of my best kitchen investments. This hand operated cutter is also known as a mandolin. I’m not usually a big fan of buying gadgets. There are many useless gadgets on the market that take up precious storage space and never get used. However, this one actually gets used - a lot!

V-slicers are used to cut firm fruits and vegetables. The shape of the cut depends on the blade used. You can mince, chop, slice and julienne, which means to cut into strips.

My V-slicer is made of heavy duty plastic. You can buy the stainless steel version for about $150. The more expensive models come with more cutting blades and have legs to stand on. Unless you do a TON of cutting or are a professional chef, my advice is to go with the less expensive version.

The blades are REALLY sharp. Always use the holder when cutting. The holder has spikes on it that hold the fruit or vegetable while cutting.

Jam the fruit or vegetable you are using onto the spike. (I’m using an onion.)

The arrows on the holder indicate which direction you should be slicing. Press down firmly and start slicing.

Here I have made incredibly thin slices of onion.

By adjusting the plate under the blade I can make thicker slices.

My V-slicer came with three blades.

If I wanted to make French fries I would use the center blade shown above.

Chopping or slicing, particularly onions literally takes only seconds with a V-slicer — see the picture below.

You can see a V-slicer “in action” on my French Onion Soup video.

Cheers!

Salad Nicoise

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Of all salads, Salad Nicoise is my favorite! If it is on the menu, I inevitably order it! It has the perfect combination of foods - lettuce, tomato, green beans, hard cooked eggs, potatoes, black olives, capers, and tuna fish.

Pour on your favorite vinaigrette dressing, and the meal is complete!

For two servings you will need:

2 eggs - hard cooked
1/2 pound of small potatoes
1/2 pound of green beans - blanched
1/2 head of green lettuce - washed
1 can of tuna fish (7 ounces)
4 ounces of tomatoes
10 black olives
2 tablespoons of capers
1/2 cup of vinaigrette dressing

Step # 1 - Cook the eggs

Check out my 30-second Tips and Techniques Video on How to Boil an Egg. You can do this step well in advance, as hard cooked, unpeeled eggs will keep for about a week in the refrigerator.

Step # 2 - Cook the potatoes

Carefully drop some small potatoes (see below) into boiling water, adding some salt. Return the water to a boil and set the timer for about 12 (to 15-18) minutes. Before you remove them from the pan, stick a fork in them to make sure they are tender.

Cut the potatoes into bite-size pieces.

Step # 3 Blanch the green beans

“Blanching” means that you drop the green beans into a pot of boiling, salted water and let them cook for about 2 minutes. Remove them with a pair of tongs and immediately plunge them into a bowl of water with ice.

The ice water will stop the cooking process and keep them a nice bright green.

Step #4: Assembe the salad

(Be sure to wash the lettuce!) Spread the lettuce out on a plate.

Add the rest of the ingredients in clumps. It has a lot more “eye appeal” that way!

I splurged and bought imported tuna from a jar. It was expensive ($7) but worth every bite.

Sprinkle the capers over the salad. In the photo above, those are capers in the white dish shown with the tuna fish. They have a unique, almost peppery-salty taste that works really well in combination with all the other flavors of this salad. Capers are packed in brine and should be rinsed before you add them to the salad.

Once everything is added, serve this wonderful salad with your favorite vinaigrette dressing.

Oops! I almost forgot the black olives!

Enjoy!

Recipe: Salad Nicoise

serves 2

2 eggs - hard boiled
1/2 pound of small potatoes
1/2 pound of green beans - blanched
1/2 head of green lettuce - washed
1 can of tuna fish (7 ounces)
4 ounces of tomatoes
10 black olives
2 tablespoons of capers
1/2 cup of vinaigrette dressing

Cook the potatoes until tender and let cool.

Build each salad starting with a layer of lettuce.

Add half the vegetables, tuna, eggs, and olives to each plate.

Sprinkle with capers.

Serve with vinaigrette dressing.

How to: Tomatoes

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Today's tomato round-up not only includes How to Peel and Seed a Tomato, but also:

How to Buy and Store Fresh Tomatoes
How to Peel and Seed A Tomato
How to Freeze Tomatoes
Buying the Best Canned Tomatoes
And finally Links to Great Tomato Recipes

How to Buy and Store Tomatoes

When you pick up a good tomato, it should feel heavy for its size and have a distinct tomato-y smell. It should have a little "give" when you feel it, but not be mushy, and the skin should not be bruised or have blemishes or cracks.

The best place to get tomatoes is in your own backyard vegetable garden or from a local farmer's market. Tomatoes in the grocery store are often picked before they're ready, artificially ripened, and not as flavorful as the locally grown fresh varieties. Canned tomatoes can often be better than the tomatoes in the grocery store.

Do not refrigerate tomatoes, because their texture will change; they'll become mealy. Instead, store them on your counter top in a cool, dry spot, stem side down. Don't stack them on top of each other, because they'll tend to make each other mushy. Store them in a single layer.

There are roughly three types of tomatoes generally found at the grocery store.

1. Slicing tomatoes:

One popular kind is the beefsteak tomato.

It is grown for fresh use, and it yields large slices perfect for sandwiches! Look for the sign or the label on the tomato itself.

2. Paste/Canning tomatoes:

These are often smaller and more oblong-shaped than slicing tomatoes. They tend to be meatier and have fewer seeds - perfect for making sauces with creamy texture and lots of flavor, or canning for the long winter! One popular variety is the Roma tomato. These are also known as "plum tomatoes."

3. Tiny ones:

Cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes are the most popular. These are great for adding tomato flavor to dishes without any of the moisture associated with the cut fruit — perfect for pasta salads or green salads!

In the summertime, especially at Farmer's Markets, there are of course, many more varieties of tomatoes available. Here's a great website with a description and photos of dozens of tomatoes.

How to Peel and Seed a Tomato

Some of you might be thinking - "why do I ever need to peel and seed a tomato?"

It can be a matter of preference but, generally speaking, for recipes with quick cooking times it is best to peel the tomatoes. Recipes that call for a long simmering time usually do not have you peel the tomatoes. In my Guacamole recipe I do not peel the tomato but I do seed it as all those extra seeds (and juice) really throw off the texture and can make it watery.

Start by cutting an X in the bottom of the tomato with a very sharp knife. You want to just pierce the skin.

If you are peeling just one or two (or three!) tomatoes put them in a heat-proof (Pyrex) bowl big enough so that when you add the water they will be totally covered.

Pour BOILING water over the tomato(es.)

Within about 10-15 seconds, the skin will have burst. (There are some who say to leave the tomato in the water for 3-to-4 minutes. WRONG! You do not want the tomato to cook and get mushy.)

Remove the tomato from the water with a pair of tongs.

You can also do this in a pot of boiling water, using tongs to add and remove the tomato from the pot.

Prepare an ice-bath, which is just a bowl of water with ice cubes in it.

Using tongs, drop the tomato into the ice bath.

This cools off the tomato and stops the cooking process. Remove the tomato from the ice bath and the skin now just slips off...

...and the tomato is all peeled.

To remove the seeds, cut the tomato in half with the blade of the knife parallel to the stem.

You can gently squeeze the tomato to remove the seeds, or just ease them out with your finger.

Once tomatoes are peeled and seeded they can get added to salads, dips, sauces, cold soups, etc.

The longest part of the entire process of peeling and seeding a tomato is boiling the water!

How to Freeze Tomatoes

If your garden is bursting with fresh tomatoes you can actually freeze raw tomatoes.

The University of Nebraska's Alice Henneman (MS, RD, UNL Extension in Lancaster County) has described how you would go about freezing raw tomatoes:

“Tomatoes may be frozen whole, sliced, chopped, or puréed. Additionally, you can freeze them raw or cooked, as juice or sauce, or prepared in the recipe of your choice. Thawed raw tomatoes may be used in any cooked-tomato recipe. Do not try to substitute them for fresh tomatoes, however, since freezing causes their texture to become mushy. Tomatoes should be seasoned just before serving rather than before freezing; freezing may either strengthen or weaken seasonings such as garlic, onion, and herbs.

Preparation:

Select firm, ripe tomatoes for freezing. Sort the tomatoes, discarding any that are spoiled. Wash them in clean water. Dry them by blotting with a clean cloth or paper towels.

Freezing whole tomatoes with peels:

Prepare tomatoes as described above. Cut away the stem. Place the uncut tomatoes on cookie sheets and freeze. Tomatoes do not need to be blanched before freezing. Once frozen, transfer the tomatoes from the cookie sheets into freezer bags or other containers. Seal tightly.

To use the frozen tomatoes, remove them from the freezer a few at a time or all at once. To peel, just run a frozen tomato under warm water in the kitchen sink. Its skin will slip off easily.

Freezing peeled tomatoes:

If you prefer to freeze peeled tomatoes, you can wash the tomatoes and then dip them in boiling water for about 1 minute or until the skins split. Peel and then freeze as noted above.

For more information on freezing tomatoes: Check this link to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, hosted by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service: Freezing Tomatoes

Storage time

To extend the time frozen foods maintain good quality, package foods in material intended for freezing (that means proper freezer bags, not just any bag that's left over from the produce section of the grocery store). Keep the temperature of the freezer at 0 degrees F or below. It is generally recommended frozen vegetables be eaten within about 8 months for best quality.”

Buying the Best Canned Tomatoes

(From this point onward, I need to extend an apology to my world wide audience. The following reviews are based on canned tomatoes available in the United States. I would love it if any of my overseas readers could add in the comment section what canned tomatoes they could recommend from their country of origin. Thanks!)

All canned tomatoes are not the same. One should not dismiss canned tomatoes if the first brand you try does not meet your standards. There are many to choose from. Please keep in mind that some brands may have superior canned whole tomatoes but their "roasted" canned tomatoes are rated inferior. This is one purchase where you really need to read the label carefully!

Chris Kimbal, over at America's Test Kitchens, provides a useful guide. One of the many wonderful things they do at America's Test Kitchen is test ingredients.

Here is a quick summary of their recommendations on what canned tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and tomato puree they recommend:

WHOLE CANNED TOMATOES- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:

PROGRESSO Italian-Style Whole Peeled Tomatoes with Basil
REDPACK Whole Peeled Tomatoes in Thick Puree
HUNT'S Whole Tomatoes

DICED TOMATOES- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

MUIR GLEN Organic Diced Tomatoes
REDPACK Diced Tomatoes (REDGOLD on the West Coast)

TOMATO PUREE RECOMMENDED

HUNT'S: "Nice and thick," "tomatoey."
PROGRESSO: "Thick," "tastes kind of fresh."
CENTO: "Balanced, good flavor," "slightly bitter."
MUIR GLEN: "Thick and strong," "good flavor."
PASTENE: "Fresh tasting, "tinny."
REDPACK: "Velvety smooth texture, "very acidic."
CONTADINA: "Good balance," "slightly sour."
RIENZI: "Vegetable flavor," "very thin."

If you would like a more in depth description of America's Test Kitchen Review, head on over to America's Test Kitchen and sign in! Thanks ATK!

(Note: America's Test Kitchen is a fabulous site but not everything is available for free. To have complete access to ATK you will need to pay an annual fee.)

Links to Some Great Tomato Recipes!

Fresh basil is fragrant and delicious! My Marinara Sauce uses canned tomatoes with a nice big bunch of fresh basil. You can wash fresh basil the same way you wash lettuce.

One of the easiest ways to use tomatoes is in Insalata Caprese, an Italian salad that combines tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and olive oil. It's that simple!

A basic Tomato Sauce Recipe can be made and frozen for future use.

Home made Tomato Soup is surprising easy to make and it is m-m-m-m good!

Baked Tomatoes with Grapes sure does sound like an unusual combination! This recipe is by the Skinny Chef, so it's got to be tasty as well as good for you!

When summer is bursting with fresh tomatoes and high temperatures, cold Gazpacho is a filling and refreshing soup.

Pasta Salad is the perfect meal to enjoy all year round. Bow-tie pasta, salami, olives, green onions, feta or goat cheese, and of course tomatoes make this salad a summer favorite!

This one's got a long name, but it's so mouth-wateringly delicious-sounding that I have to tell you the whole thing: Tomato and Fresh Basil Crostini (toast) with Feta and Roasted Garlic Cheese Spread...mmm. A great appetizer similar to bruschetta.

Tomato pie in a flaky pastry crust is a classically southern way to enjoy your garden's abundance of tomatoes. (Emily's pie used peeled tomatoes and it looks delicious!)

Tomatoes stuffed with rice are an easy and elegant dish to serve your summer dinner party guests. Try adding vegetables, sausage pieces, or ground beef to your rice mixture.

Fried green tomatoes are another classically southern dish. Green tomatoes have a tangier taste than red ones, and when breaded and fried, they make a crispy and fresh appetizer, addition to sandwiches, or side for crab cakes.

Don't forget about the classic BLT sandwich!

Taboule (shown below) will keep you cool because there's no cooking involved! Plus, with fresh flavors like tomato, lemon, and mint, you can't go wrong.

Cheers!

Kathy

Ramen Noodle Crunchy Coleslaw

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0500

This coleslaw is FANTASTIC! I was really skeptical when my friend Mary Sutherland sent me this recipe, since I've never in my life bought instant Ramen noodles. But Mary, who is an excellent cook, has been making it for years and said her daughters (who are in college) love it! With a leap of faith, I purchased the ingredients and decided to give it a go.

(First, a note of caution: Instant Ramen noodles are most definitely not on the healthy end of the food chain. On occasion this is a tasty splurge, but I would caution anyone against a regular diet of Ramen noodles.)

Coleslaw is a salad made with either red or white shredded cabbage as its base. You can then add a variety of different vegetables like carrots, celery, onion, etc. A mayonnaise or vinaigrette dressing binds everything together. There are an infinite number of recipes available for every palate.

This is a very versatile recipe, as it can be eaten as a side dish, main dish, or just a snack.

There are five quick steps involved in making this recipe:

Make the dressing
Toast the sliced almonds and the sesame seeds
Cut up the white part of four green onions
Mix together the coleslaw, noodles, almonds, sesame seeds and green onion.
Add the dressing and - that’s it!

Be sure to buy the “Chicken-flavor” Ramen noodles. To make things really simple, I purchased a pre-shredded bag of coleslaw mix (which is available in many supermarkets.)

If you prefer, you can easily shred your own head of cabbage to make the coleslaw. (Buy the white - not the red - cabbage for this recipe!) You will need approximately 6-8 cups of cabbage or coleslaw mix.

For those of you (like me!) who have never purchased Ramen noodles, it is a small “brick” of dried noodles that comes with a flavor packet. These noodles are not going to get cooked, but just broken up into the coleslaw. They add an amazing crunch to this dish.

Make the dressing first. You will need:

2 Tablespoons of sugar (or sweetener such as Equal, Sweet & Low, or aspertame)
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
2 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1/2 cup of oil
chicken flavor packet from the Ramen noodles

You could use a bowl and a whisk to mix everything together, but it is easier to just put everything in jar….

…and give it a good shake. Set it aside until the coleslaw gets made.

You can buy already toasted sesame seeds or toast them yourself.

To toast sesame seeds, put them in a dry fry pan. Set the temperature to medium high and don’t walk away from the stove. Keep the seeds moving in the pan by stirring them with a spoon or by shaking the pan. It takes just a minute or two for the seeds to go from untoasted…

…to toasted…

…to burnt in the blink of an eye! Once you start to smell the seeds toasting, they will only need a few more seconds to get nicely browned.

Toast the almonds the same way.

All toasted!

Wash four green onions and remove the green part. Slice the white part into small circles.

Put the cabbage (or coleslaw) in a large bowl. Add the almonds, green onions and sesame seeds.

With your hands, break up the (uncooked) Ramen noodles on top of the coleslaw. Gently mix everything together.

Just before serving add the dressing…

…and gently toss the salad.

Serve the salad immediately. If there are any leftovers, the Ramen noodles will eventually “soften” and the coleslaw will lose that some of that crunchy texture.

This will easily make four large servings or 6 medium size servings.

Enjoy!

P.S.

For those of you interested in a few more elegant ways to cook with Ramen noodles,

Nika at Nikas Culinaria, made a beautiful Mexi-Cali Ramen served in mini-pumpkin bowls.

Elise at Simply Recipes made a more exotic coleslaw called Napa Cabbage Picnic Salad.

Recipe: Ramen Noodle Crunchy Coleslaw

serves 6

2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1/2 cup of oil
1 tablespoon of sesame seeds - toasted
1/2 cup of almonds - sliced and toasted
4 green onions - white part only
1 bag of coleslaw mix (16 ounces)
1 package of Ramen noodles - chicken flavored

Dressing:
In a jar, mix together the sugar (OR sugar substitute), pepper, vinegar, oil and chicken flavor packet from the Ramen noodles. Set aside.

In a dry fry pan toast the almonds and then the sesame seeds.

Clean and slice the white part of green onions into small rounds, discarding tops.

Combine in a large bowl the coleslaw mix (OR 6-8 cups of shredded cabbage), sliced green onion, toasted almonds and sesame seeds. Crumble the dry (uncooked) Ramen noodles on top of the cabbage. Gently mix everything together.

Just before serving toss the salad with the dressing. Serve immediately.

Serves 6 as a hearty side salad (or makes 4 generous servings as a main salad)

Adapted From: Mary Sutherland

How to Pit Cherries

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0500

My all-time, number-one, favorite fruit is the cherry! Cherries are in season from about late May until early August. “Bing” cherries are the most popular kind on the market. When you buy them, be sure that they are firm, a deep, dark red in color, and still have the stem attached.

Ranier cherries are yellow/pink-ish in color and are sweet and juicy, but don’t have quite the intense flavor of the Bing Cherries

Don’t wash cherries until you are ready to eat them. They should be stored in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. Cherries will keep for about a week in the refrigerator, but it’s better to buy small amounts and eat them within a day or two of purchase.

The best way to serve cherries is simple: rinse them in cool water, put them on a serving dish and dig in!

If you are adding them to a fruit salad, or putting them on top of cereal or ice cream you are going to want to remove the pit. Using a small paring knife cut around the cherry and split it in half. Pick out the pit with your fingers.

There is another way. I am not someone who likes to buy gadgets that are for doing just one thing. Storage space in just about everyone’s kitchen is very valuable, so why waste it on something that can’t perform multiple tasks? However, my cherry pitter breaks that rule!

The pitter, the strange-looking gadget pictured above next to the knife, supposedly can remove the pit from olives as well, but I have never been able to make it work with olives.

But it can remove the pit of a cherry in seconds!

Wash and remove the stem off the cherry. Place the cherry on the curved bit under the spike.

Squeeze the pitter so that the spike goes through the cherry, forcing out the pit.

Just that easy, just that quick!

There are a few things you need to be careful of, however.

If your cherries are really plump and juicy the spike may go around the pit instead of popping it out. Make double sure the pit actually did pop out!

Really juicy cherries sometimes get a bit messy, with juice squirting back at you. Be careful your shirt doesn’t get covered with cherry stains.

When you are through pitting all your cherries, rinse off the pitter and dry it with a dish towel.

There is a little lever on the base of the cherry pitter which will hold it closed and therefore take up less room in your kitchen drawer.

At the cost of about $12, these cherry pitters are not inexpensive, but if you love cherries, I think it’s a great investment. Cheers!

Salad Greens From A to Z

kathy@startcooking.com (Emily Chapelle) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0500

It’s easy to get in a salad rut, turning to the same kind of lettuce every time. Why not go beyond iceberg, romaine, or leaf lettuce and try some more interesting options? Spring is the perfect time to experiment with salad greens, and this post will help you get acquainted with all that leafy stuff at the grocery store.

When you purchase or harvest lettuce, you should wash or rinse it, then store it wrapped in a cloth or paper towel, then in a plastic bag, in the crisper drawer. Store lettuce away from apples, pears and bananas. These fruits release ethylene, a ripening agent which will speed the decay of the lettuce. Because of its high water content, lettuce cannot be frozen or canned for long-term storage. It should always be eaten fresh, within about 10 days of purchase or harvest.

Nutritional content varies among lettuces and greens, though most are filled with Vitamin A and potassium. With the exception of iceberg, most varieties are also a good source of Vitamin C, iron and calcium. Lettuce is also a good source of dietary fiber.

When it comes to making a salad, try creating your own mix by tossing together at least three varieties. Here’s a basic formula:

Use a mild lettuce or green, like Boston, bibb or endive
Another should be a crisp lettuce or green, like romaine or cabbage
The third kind should be tart, peppery, or bitter greens, like arugula or radicchio

After your foundation of greens is mixed, you can add other goodies like carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Or you can venture into the more exciting world of salad-toppers, including edamame, beets, hearts of palm, sunflower seeds, toasted pine nuts, artichoke hearts, and more.

But wait a second. How do you tell arugula from endive? Mizuna from mesclun? Here’s a guide to recognizing and using the various greens in the produce section.

Arugula (pictured above)

Also known as: Rocket
Leaves are: Dark green and tender
Taste is: Bitter and peppery, with a slight mustard taste
Try this arugula salad with tomatoes and avocado.

Butterhead (pictured above)

Includes: Bibb and Boston Lettuce
Leaves are: Loosely formed heads of pale “wrinkled” leaves, smooth buttery texture
Taste is: Sweet and mild
Great on summer sandwiches!

Cabbage (pictured above)

Can be: green or red. Red is sometimes known as “purple cabbage”
Leaves are: crisp and crunchy
Taste is: bitter and sharp

Chard (pictured above)

Also known as: Swiss Chard
Leaves are: large, deep green, “wrinkled” leaves are always eaten cooked
Taste is: similar to beets, while the stalks are somewhat like celery
Try it in this Quick+Search+>+keyword:+kale">Bean and Swiss Chard soup recipe

Dandelion Greens (pictured above)

Leaves are: tender, flat, with jagged edges
Taste is: bitter
Young dandelion leaves may be used in salads, but the larger ones taste best when they’re cooked

Endive (pictured above)

Leaves are: tender and smooth
Taste is: mild and bitter. The lighter the endive, the milder the flavor is.
Their spoon-like shape makes them perfect for serving crab salad or chicken salad.

Escarole

Leaves are: wide and frilly
Taste is: mild. This is a good one to add for “fluff” and texture

Frisée (pictured above)

Leaves are: long, wide, and curly. Usually green, but sometimes edged in red
Taste is: slightly peppery or nutty
Try it with blue cheese, walnut, and cranberry on a crostini.

Kale (pictured above)

Leaves are: broad and ruffled, ranging from deep green to a bluish purple
Taste is: very mild, with cabbage undertones
The site Veganyumyum has a delicious-sounding recipe for kale salad with orange-blackberry vinaigrette. Kale is also often served cooked, as in this recipe with cranberries and pine nuts.

Iceberg (pictured above)

Leaves are: tender, crisp, and pale-green
Taste is: mild and crunchy
Perfect for a make-ahead salad with peas

Leaf lettuce (pictured above)

Leaves are: either red-tipped or dark green, ruffled and tender
Taste is: mild but interesting

Lollo Rosso

Leaves are: tender and broad with ruffled red edges
Taste is: mild
Enjoy this lettuce in waffle pieces with lettuce and papaya chutney

Mesclun (pictured above)

The term mesclun comes from the French word for a mix of tender young salad greens. You can buy this pre-mixed in bags, or make your own blend.
Leaves are: Varied, as a mesclun could include arugula, frisée, radicchio, dandelion greens, fresh herbs, and other salad greens
Taste is: Depends on the greens included, but is usually “bitter” or peppery
This is good to mix with a milder lettuce or spinach for a great tossed salad!
Try poached eggs with pancetta and tossed mesclun

Oakleaf lettuce

Leaves are: tender with crunchy stems, sometimes red, sometimes green
Taste is: mild

Radicchio (pictured above)

Leaves are: crisp, deep red and white
Taste is: bitter and peppery
A honey-citrus dressing is the perfect foil for radicchio’s peppery bite

Red orach

Leaves are: arrow-shaped with fuchsia undersides
Taste is: similar to spinach

Romaine (pictured above)

Also known as: cos
Leaves are: long green leaves, with a crunchy center vein
Taste is: bitter and succulent
The classic lettuce for a Caesar salad, or great for a taco salad

Spinach (pictured above)

Leaves are: tender, dark green, and sometimes wrinkled, sometimes smooth
Taste is: slightly bitter and somewhat hearty

Tat Soi (pictured above)

Also known as: spoon cabbage or baby bok choy
Leaves are: spoon shaped
Taste is: peppery

Watercress (pictured above)

Leaves are: small and dark-green on long stems
Taste is: strong and peppery
This sounds amazing: avocado and watercress salad with a soy-apple dressing

White Chocolate and Frozen Berries

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0500

This is my absolute favorite dessert of any I have ever eaten in my whole life!

I first tasted this at the Ivy restaurant in London. They call it Scandinavian Berries; I call it a plate-licking conversation stopper! To make this dessert you will need:

1 cup (8 ounces) of heavy cream
10 ounces of white chocolate
½ teaspoon of vanilla

As well as a half-pint each of 3 small berries like

blueberries
red raspberries and
blackberries

Over in England, there are all sorts of teeny-tiny berries available at the grocery store. However, here in Boston, blueberries are pretty much the smallest berry you can buy.

To make this dessert we need to:

Freeze the berries
Melt the heavy cream, chocolate and vanilla extract together
Pour the hot melted chocolate mixture over the frozen berries.

The blackberries will probably be bigger than the other berries, so start by cutting the blackberries in half, making all the pieces of the berries approximately the same size. Then lay a piece of wax paper or parchment paper on a baking sheet with sides. Spread ALL the berries out in a single layer on the baking sheet.

Lay the baking sheet in the freezer. Once the berries are frozen, remove them from the tray and store them in a baggie in the freezer.

Use the absolute best white chocolate that you can afford. (Try to avoid using "white chocolate chips" as they are not really chocolate.) The block of white chocolate that I bought needs to get chopped up into tiny pieces. It will melt much faster when it’s chopped up.

Put the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl that fits on top of a pan that has an inch or two of water on the bottom. (This is the “double-boiler” system.)

We melted dark chocolate in the fudge recipe this way.

You have to make sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. The whole point of a *double boiler* is to melt/cook things very gently by having the steam from the water (not the water itself) heat the upper bowl!

Add the heavy cream and the vanilla to the bowl of chocolate.

Give it an occasional stir until everything is warm, melted, and all blended together.

About 5 minutes before serving, put the berries in a single layer in a flat bowl.

Pour the hot chocolate mixture into a heat-proof jug. At the table, in front of your guests, pour the hot chocolate mixture over the frozen berries.

The chocolate warms up the berries and the berries cool down the chocolate. One bite and you will be hooked on this utterly fantastic dessert!

Enjoy!

Recipe: White chocolate and frozen berries

serves 4

1/2 pint of blueberries
1/2 pint of red rasberries
1/2 pint of blackberries - cut in half
1 cup of heavy cream
10 ounces of white chocolate - chopped
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Freeze berries in a single layer on a baking sheet. Once the berries are frozen, remove them from the tray and store them in a baggie in the freezer until ready to use.

Melt the heavy cream, chocolate and vanilla extract together

Just before serving, put the frozen berries in a single layer in individual serving dishes.

Pour the hot melted chocolate mixture over the berries.

Serve!

Guy Kawasaki's Famous Teriyaki Sauce with Grilled Chicken

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0500

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A huge welcome to Guy Kawasaki who has shared with us his world famous recipe for teriyaki sauce, which we have turned into a video.

This blogpost contains not only the script/recipe of his video but also a description of how to use his sauce to make Teriyaki Grilled Chicken.

Cheers!
Kathy

***

Script of Guy's video

Welcome to startcooking.com…I'm Guy Kawasaki here to make my famous teriyaki sauce!

All it takes is six ingredients - pureed in a blender:

Start with half a hand of ginger. You can peel it if you want to, but you don't have to. Just be sure to give it a rough chop.

Cut two jalapenos in half remove the seeds and chop them up.

Trim the root ends off half a bunch of green onions and chop them up as well.

Peel an orange. But just half is needed for this recipe.

Measure out 1 cup of soy sauce and 1 cup of sugar

Now add everything to the blender. Cover it and let her RIP. Keep blending on high speed until everything is liquefied.

This is a great barbeque marinade for about 2 and 1/2 pounds of beef or chicken.

Oh and it's got be charcoal. Gas is for wimps!

Enjoy!

***

Thanks Guy, this is a fantastic recipe! Now for the Grilled Chicken!

Guy told me that from this point on, he "boils the chicken in the sauce on top of the stove, for 15 minutes - then finishes cooking it on a charcoal BBQ just to get the BBQ look".

As many of you know, I live in a condo in the middle of Boston and have never fired up an outdoor barbeque in my life. Consequently, I'm going to show you how to do this indoors! (At the bottom of this post I have listed several links to some really great barbeque sites and recipes!)

Everyone should first take a look at my video on Grilled Chicken Indoors.

I'm going to be following that cooking procedure, but instead of a dry spice rub on the chicken, I'm using Guy Kawasaki's Famous Teriyaki Sauce to marinate the chicken first.

For the "indoor" version of this Teriyaki Grilled Chicken, I'm using boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

You can marinate your chicken for up to 24 hours in this marinade. Be sure to use a glass or plastic dish or a plastic bag, and not a metal dish for marinating.

Remove the chicken from the marinade…

…and place on a plate. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel.

Put the remaining marinade in a medium size pan.

Bring the marinade to a boil.

Oops! This pan is way too small! As the marinade comes to a boil it will spill right out of this pan. I'm pouring this into a deeper sauce pan!

That's much better. The marinade needs to get boiled for 15 minutes to kill off any of the raw chicken bacteria. If it gets too thick, add 2-3 Tablespoons of water and continue cooking.

Strain the marinade through a fine sieve. For those that want a bit more teriyaki sauce on their chicken, this is going to be delicious drizzled on top of the chicken.

Cooking the Chicken:

Non-stick pans are great in that it is not necessary to add any oil to the pan when cooking the chicken.

Be sure to follow my instructions in the Grilled Chicken video on preheating the pan. When grilling or frying you do not want to over-crowd the pan. You may have to cook the chicken in two batches.

The sugar in the marinade is making this chicken develop really lovely grill marks on both sides.

Depending on how thick your chicken breasts are you will need to cook them about 3-5 minutes on each side.

Enjoy!

Here are the links on Barbecue-ing that I promised you:

Emily Chapelle has done a great post here at startcooking.com called A Beginners Guide to Barbeque!

Jennifer Iserloh over at Skinny Chef has a great selection of Skinny Marinades!

Steven Raichlen, is a barbecue guru, with a show, cookbooks, etc. He has a site called Barbecue Bible:

http://www.barbecuebible.com/

Ted Reader is a Canadian barbecue guru (also with a show, cookbooks etc). He's got a nice site with lots of recipe videos at:
www.tedreader.com

Kalyn's Kitchen has a big recipe section on Grilling:
http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2005/04/grilling.html

Here's a single guy's blog on "all things barbecue, food and drink"
http://www.barbecuebachelor.com/

Here's a women-focused site called Girls at the Grill:
http://www.girlsatthegrill.com/thegirls/introduction.asp

Recipe: Guy Kawasaki's Famous Teriyaki Sauce with Grilled Chicken

serves 8

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of soy sauce
1/2 orange
2 jalapeno peppers - seeds removed
5 green onions - chopped
1/3 cup of ginger (approx ½ hand-size or so) - peeled and chopped
8 (5 ounce) chicken breasts

Blend everything but the chicken in a blender/food processor.

Puree until smooth.

This recipe will make 3 cups of sauce which is enough to marinate 2 and 1/2 pounds of chicken or tri-tip steak.

To marinate the chicken place it in a glass bowl or plastic bag. Cover with the marinade and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and pat dry.

Add chicken to a preheated grill pan and cook on each side 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.

Put the remaining marinade in a medium size pan and boil for 15 minutes. (If the marinade gets too thick, add 2-3 Tablespoons of water and continue boiling.)

Strain the marinade through a fine sieve and drizzle on top of cooked the cooked.

Adapted From: Guy Kawasaki

How to Peel a Mango

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0500

A mango is one of those fruits that people avoid buying because they don't know how to cut them. I’ll show you two different ways to cut a mango.

Mangos are great with just about anything. (Chicken, fish, salsa, pancakes, smoothies, on ice cream, fruit salad, etc.) They are low in calories, can be eaten fresh or cooked and are really tasty.

They are in season from May to September. When you buy a mango, it should have a fragrant, fruity aroma and yield slightly to pressure from your thumb. It will ripen sitting on your counter, or you can speed the ripening process by sticking it in a paper bag. Once ripe, put it in the refrigerator. A mango should get eaten within a day or two of being cut.

To cut a mango, start with a serrated edge knife. (That’s the one with the jagged edge that you use to cut a loaf of bread.) Mangos are very slippery and you have to be very careful when peeling a mango that the knife does not slip.

Slice off the fattest part, sometimes called the “cheek”, of both sides of the mango. Notice in the photo below the position of the knife in relationship to the stem. (The stem is next to my left index finger.)

Now score the “cheek”. That means to make shallow cuts with a paring knife. Make each cut about ½ inch apart, and then turn the “cheek” and make perpendicular cuts as well.

Once scored, press the back side of the mango so that all the flesh is standing at attention. You can serve it this way or trim off the flesh from the skin.

Cut around the pit with a small paring knife.

Remove the remaining skin from the flesh.

Trim around the pit to remove the remaining flesh.

The pit is actually quite large as you can see from the photo below.

The Alton Brown Way to Peel and Cut a Mango:

I was watching Alton Brown on FoodTV demonstrating how to peel and cut a mango. His method actually produced more edible flesh, and was safe and efficient. But you do need a few more pieces of equipment for the Alton Brown method.

Corn-on-the-Cob Holders

In addition a a large kitchen knife, you will need a vegetable peeler and a corn-on-the-cob holder.

Start by peeling the mango with a vegetable peeler

Then slice off the top (stem end) and bottom of the mango.

Insert a corn holder into the mango. This is going to act as a holder while you slice the mango. Notice how the mango can stand by itself!

Holding the corn holder, slice off the cheeks.

And trim the flesh off the pit.

Then slice the mango according to your recipe.

Enjoy!

Make Ahead Layered Salad

kathy@startcooking.com (Kathy Maister) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0500

When you are just learning how to cook, one of the hardest things to manage is getting all the food prepared and served at the same time. Anything that can be done ahead of time, particularly if you are entertaining guests, is a huge time saver!

This salad can be served either immediately after making it, or covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before serving it. The trick is not to mix in the dressing (or salt) until just before you serve it. (Otherwise it will wilt.)

As is true with most salads, you can vary the ingredients to your taste.

This recipe includes: iceberg lettuce, celery, green onion, hard-cooked eggs, bacon, peas, and Swiss cheese.

(I based this recipe on one given to me by my friend Jean Williams of Salisbury, North Carolina. She does not include the hard-cooked eggs in her version!)

STEP ONE: Preparing the Salad Ingredients

1) Frozen Peas:

Remove a 10-ounce bag (or box) of frozen peas from the freezer. Let them defrost while you prepare the salad. There is no need to cook the peas.

2) Iceberg Lettuce:

Iceberg lettuce is crispy and fresh and great in salads (or shredded and added to Tacos). It is generally the least “sandy” lettuce to buy. To wash iceberg lettuce, remove the core with a paring knife.

Break it apart with your hands. (Some heads of iceberg are much firmer than others!)

I like to put the lettuce in my salad spinner then set the base of it in the sink.

Cover the lettuce with water and swish it around a bit. Lift out the colander portion of the spinner out of the water and drain the lettuce.

Put the lid on the salad spinner and let it whirl! The centrifugal force will pull all the water away from the lettuce leaves. The iceberg lettuce should end up bone dry.

If you do not have a salad spinner, wash the lettuce in a colander and shake out as much water as possible. Let it dry on paper towels or a clean dish cloth while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Or just buy a bag of pre-washed, ready to use lettuce. The "Lettuce Trio" pictured below includes iceberg, romaine, and green leaf lettuce and would be perfect for this salad!

3) Celery:

Wash and trim the ends off from 3-to-4 stalks of celery. Cut each stalk in half and then each half into strips. Line up the strips and start chopping away.

4) Green Onions:

Wash and trim the ends off 3-to-4 green onions. (The word “scallion” is often used interchangeably with green onion.) Cut them in half and then line them up and start slicing. The white ends have a much stronger flavor than the green part.

5) Bacon:

6 strips of bacon will cook up in less than 6 minutes in the microwave. Once cooked, cut the bacon into very small bits with a large kitchen knife.

6) Hard-Cooked Eggs:

Start by checking out my video for a quick review on How to Boil an Egg. I was having a heck of a time peeling my eggs so I cracked the shell and put them in a bowl of ice water. Once the water seeped in under the shell, peeling them was so much easier! Now just chop up the two cooked eggs.

7) Swiss Cheese:

Shred 3 ounces of Swiss cheese. (Monterey Jack or cheddar would also taste great with this recipe!)

STEP TWO: Layering the Salad:

Now that all the ingredients are prepared, it’s time to start layering!

Tear the lettuce with your hands or cut it into bite size pieces. Put one half of the head of lettuce on the bottom of a salad bowl. Sprinkle on (in turn) one half of the peas, celery, green onion, eggs, bacon, and shredded cheese.

Repeat layering all the ingredients in that order: lettuce, peas, celery, green onion, eggs, bacon, and shredded cheese.

STEP THREE: The Dressing:

In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and 1/2 cup of sour cream. Either “light” or regular full-fat mayonnaise and sour cream will work for this recipe. It’s up to you which one you would prefer.

Cover the entire top of the salad with the mayonnaise-sour cream dressing.

The salad is now ready to serve. Or you can cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours.

Wait until just before serving the salad to toss the dressing into the salad with salad spoons or two large kitchen spoons.

Add a bit of salt and pepper to your taste, and…

…Enjoy!

P.S. Even “salad-haters” love this salad!

Recipe: Make Ahead Layered Salad

serves 4

1 head of iceberg lettuce
3 stalks of celery - chopped
3 green onions - chopped
10 ounces of frozen peas - defrosted
6 slices of bacon - crumbled
2 eggs (hard cooked) - chopped
3 ounces of Swiss cheese - shredded
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of sour cream

Wash and dry lettuce thoroughly. Put half in the bottom of a salad bowl. Add half of the celery, green onion, peas, bacon, hard cooked eggs, and cheese. Repeat with a second layer.

Combine mayonnaise and sour cream. Spread over the top of the entire salad. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Toss salad completely before serving.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Adapted from:
Jean Williams - Salisbury, North Carolina

Start the Party with a Bang: Independence Day Menu

kathy@startcooking.com (Emily Chapelle, Kathy Maister) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Whether your Fourth of July celebration is a family affair, a neighborhood gathering or a party with friends, you’ll want to enjoy great food as well. This mix-and-match menu will help you get everything planned for a great party!

Pick one or two options from each section and you’re all set.

Appetizers

Chips and dip: onion or spinach dip, fresh salsa, 7-Layer Dip or guacamole
Vegetable platter

Main Courses

Anything on the grill: hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken or Weight-Watcher-friendly kebabs
For the vegetarians in the crowd, try the best ever vegetarian burgers
Pulled pork especially if you’re in the south!

Side Dishes

Pasta salad or a Make Ahead Layered Salad
Potato Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette (video) or try Ed Livine's Potato Salad that's made with mayo and hard cooked eggs
Corn on the cob
Southern tomato pie, sort of like an eggless tomato quiche.
Broccoli salad with black olives and feta
Baked Beans
Get the kids involved in helping you make deviled eggs

Very Berry Summer Pie, photo courtesy of Kelly Wright, Sass & Veracity blog

Desserts

Fruit Salad: Try it in a smiling watermelon bowl!
Watermelon
“Patriotic” desserts, like the famous flag cake, made with white icing, strawberry “stripes” and blueberry “stars”
Rhubarb strawberry crisp, made from local and healthy ingredients
Very berry summer pie (pictured above): We found this recipe on Kelly Wright's Sass and Veracity blog. With a dollop of whipped cream, it’s red white and blue! Thanks Kelly, for letting us use your mouthwatering photo!
Berry trifle, also with the colors of our flag
Strawberry shortcake: quite simple when you use biscuit mix
Ice Cream Sandwiches, frozen or no-bake pies

Drinks

Make sure your friends and family stay hydrated with lots of water!
Lemonade, limeade, or strawberry lemonade – the old-fashioned way
Iced Tea
Beer