Food Hacks And Tips

[GwenOnBass]

:: gulp ::

Sharing my best food hack. It's: anchovy.

That's right. Pure magic for any dish. It will turn a sauce from blah to wow. And self-professed anchovy haters will never be the wiser. Use with discretion. And use the real thing: no "anchovy paste". Real anchovy packed in olive oil.

Cooks who are intimidated by the concept can take the easier route that involves no tiny fish fillets. Use colatura di alici, the modern day version of garum.

 

[Tom Bomb]

If you want to hard-boil eggs and you don't want the shells to break, use cold water: add the eggs and bring the lot to the boil. Cook for as long as it takes, depending on your usual method, normally somewhere between five and ten minutes. No breaks

 

[StudioStuntz]

...

That's right. Pure magic for any dish. It will turn a sauce from blah to wow. And self-professed anchovy haters will never be the wiser...Use colatura di alici, the modern day version of garum.

Many Italian salad dressings secretly contain them, especially those from Italian restaurants.
Just yesterday I ordered pizza, and was searching for anchovies on their list of toppings and no-go!

I always use them in pasta sauces when I'm near the end of sauteing the garlic, as they melt easily.
On rare occasions when I'm out, I've thrown in a tablespoon or two of authentic Asian fish sauce, not as good, but in a pinch...

I think most don't like the saltiness as opposed to the actual fish taste itself.
I've heard that soaking in milk for five minutes alleviates that problem for the skittish.

Thanks for the CDA recommendation, I'll look for it.

 

[Tom Bomb]

Fish sauce and Worcestershire sauce both have those little fermented fishy fellows on board — they are the epitome of salty ocean-going goodness.

Another tip, from the same chef who gave us the boiled egg routine — I think it was Nick Nairn, this time concerning custard:

Get your usual mise en place together, whatevs, but keep the milk separate. Bring the milk to the boil first, while you're combining everything else. Just as the milk comes to the boil, bung in the lot — that way you're not standing, stirring the custard, forever, waiting for it all to boil. Continue as normal.

 

[Tom Bomb]

If you're partial to beans — kidney, butter, pinto, black, navy, fava, etc. — and you're a half decent cook but you don't particularly like being a monumental methane menace — there's no scapegoat, no slobbering St Bernard to blame — just change the water a few times when you're boiling up a batch. Wash all that wind away. Otherwise, by all means, fire away! Beans are a GAS! (Goodly and satisfying.)

 

[Ironbar]

Post any misc. tips or tricks regarding any and all actual food or related items if you want.

For those who like hard boiled eggs, but don't like the having to bite through all the white to get to the yoke.

WHY?

 

[StudioStuntz]

WHY?

Bar-bets?

 

[StudioStuntz]

This is pretty cool as it can be used for other applications as well:

 

[elgecko]

I've been working on my thick crust pizza recipe for a while. It isn't 100% where I want it but it's still pretty darn good.
Mix up:
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons of yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon of sugar

Allow it to sit till bubbles form (approximately 10 minutes)

In a large mixing bowl:
- add 2 cups all purpose flour
- add 2 teaspoons of olive oil

Add the liquid a little at a time while mixing with a large spoon (once the dough starts sticking to the spoon or bowl, that's enough liquid. That's usually 90%-95% of the liquid.)

Once the liquid is incorporated, knead the dough thoroughly by hand (I used to use a food processor but found I get better results by hand. A proper mixer with a dough hook might be ideal but I don't have one. As you work the dough, you should feel it start to get elastic).

Place the dough ball in a large bowl coated with approximately 2 teaspoons of olive oil and toss the ball to coat in oil. Cover it with plastic wrap and a dish towel and allow it to rise to twice its size (approximately 2 hours depending on ambient temperature), ideally in a warmish location.

Punch the dough down then let it continue to rise for approximately 1 more hour.

At this point, I try to disturb the dough as little as possible and skip all the fancy hand tossing. I simply dump the dough onto a pizza pan greased with olive oil then stretch it out, leaving a crust "ridge" along the outer rim. If you've done things right, the dough will be very supple and easy to stretch out.

Apply sauce, cheese, toppings, brush the crust with olive oil then bake in a pre-heated pizza at 500 degrees for 15 minutes.

ENJOY!

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I wish I could get those crazy air bubbles like they get at mom and pop pizza joints. I'm guessing they either get it during the kneading stage (using a large mixer with dough hook) or during the rising stage (using proofing ovens) but I haven't been able to replicate it at home. I'd be interested in hearing experienced pizza cooks sound off on this.

Next, I have to learn how to make sourdough bread!

I've officially perfected this recipe!

The initial mix deletes the sugar and increases the salt.

Mix up:
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons of yeast
- 1-1/2 teaspoon salt

The second part substitutes bread flour and deletes the olive oil.

In a large mixing bowl:
- add 2 cups bread flour

I now make two smaller, thin crust pizzas with this dough. After the first punch-down, I split and quickly knead the dough into two balls for the second rise. I've also started using cornmeal, a pizza stone, and the highest heat setting my stove has (550F). I swear I made the best pizza crust I've ever had last night...in my oven! Check out these crust bubbles!

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[D M C]

^^I wanna try this when I get back to making pizza. I need to lose 50 lbs or so before that happens though.

 

[elgecko]

Here's my first shot at a loaf of bread. Bam!