Cookhacker

Tip of the Day – Save Your Parmesan Rinds

Tom — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:29:47 +0000

After you’ve grated your block of Parmesan right down to the hard rind, don’t you dare throw it out. Place it in a plastic bag and stick it in the freezer. Next time you make stew, soup or spaghetti sauce, just toss in a big chunk of rind as it’s cooking, and that great intense, salty unique Parmesan flavor will infuse the sauce…just don’t forget to remove it before serving! If you do forget, please click here.

The Most Important Tools in Your Kitchen – Your Knives

Tom — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 18:17:59 +0000

A sharp, well balanced knife that feels good in your hand is a pleasure to work with and makes cooking that much more enjoyable…when the right knife is used properly, it really makes you feel very “cheffy”. I’ve already posted how to sharpen knives and keep them sharp, and the amazing chart below (which I totally copied from Kitchen Kapers) really helps you figure out exactly what knife to use (or buy) for the job at hand.

There is need to go crazy buying knifes. I recommend starting out with a good quality 8″ chef’s knife (the workhorse and the most important tool in your kitchen, imho), a 3″ Victorinox 47508 3-1/4-Inch Paring Knifeparing knife, 5″ Zwilling J.A. Henckels Twin Four Star 5-Inch High Carbon Stainless-Steel Serrated Utility KnifeTomato/Utility Knife, a 10″ Victorinox 47547 10-1/4-Inch Wavy Bread Knife, Black Fibrox Handleserrated bread knife and a Wusthof 10-Inch Sharpening Steelhoning (sharpening) steel. Just make sure you store them properly (I love my magnetic knife holder) and you should be ready to tackle any kitchen cutting job with ease.

Style of Knife	Shape of Knife	Ideal Job for Knife
2 3/4″ Peeling Knife		For peeling of all round vegetables – potatoes, onions, etc.
3″, 4″ Paring Knifes		For paring, peeling and slicing small fruits and vegetables.
5″ Tomato/Utility Knife (Serrated)		For tomatoes, salami, croissants.
5 1/2″ Boning Knife		For separating meat from bone, cooked and uncooked. The smaller the size of the meat (or bone) the more flexible the blade should be and vice versa.
5″, 6″ Utility Knives		As the name indicates, for many, but not for all cutting jobs. Peeling, slicing, chopping, carving.
8″, 10″ Carving/Slicing Knives		For carving medium sized roasts and fowl, cutting large vegetables, fruit.
6″, 8″, 10″ Chef’s Knives		For chopping and dicing. The knife handle is rocked up and down with one hand while the fingers on the other hand rest slightly on the back of the blade, towards the tip.
8″ Bread Knife (Serrated)		For cutting bread or any other food of soft substance with a tough skin or crust.
5″, 7″ Santoku Knives		For slicing and chopping. Hollow edge allows air between blade and item being cut for extra thin cutting. Unique edge must be sharpened by professional.
Cleaver		For chopping through joints or bones.
10″ Sharpening Steel		For sharpening the knives. A sharp knife will provide maximum safety. Use the sharpening steel regularly, preferably every other time the knife is used.

Quinoa with Sautéed Vegetables and Caramelized Onions

Tom — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 04:27:10 +0000

Quinoa (keen-wah). If you haven’t tried it, you really should give it shot. It’s a pseudocereal with a slightly nutty flavor, which makes it a great alternative to rice. Quinoa is extremely nutritious and has a very high protein content (12%–18%), making it a healthy choice for vegetarians, vegans and athletes. Unlike wheat or rice, which is low in lysine, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids, making it an unusually complete protein source. And the best part about it is…it tastes great! For this recipe, we prepared it like you would rice and mixed it with sautéed vegetables and caramelized onions for a quick, delicious healthy meal. You can use any vegetables you like in this dish…everything seems to go well with quinoa and you can find it just about anywhere these days…Earthly Delights Organic Premium 100 Percent Quinoa Whole Grain 4 Pound ReseaNature’s Earthly Choice is a great brand.

Please click here for a printable recipe.

Tip of the Day – Roll Your Bacon for Easy Separation

Tom — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:27:05 +0000

Don’t you just hate it when you open a package of bacon and it’s hard to separate the strips? I admit, it’s not a problem as dire as global warming or the economy, but at least there’s any easy remedy for this annoying situation. Just roll the package of bacon into a tight cylinder shape before opening it, and the bacon strips will be easy to separate. And don’t forget to use the classic Cast Iron Bacon Press when cooking…it helps the bacon cook evenly and actually prevents it from curling up…it’s great for BLTs.

DIY Girl Scout Cookies – How to Make Them at Home

Tom — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:31:21 +0000

It’s that time of year again…Girl Scout Cookies are on sale! For those of you that are still bummed out over the news last year that the Girl Scouts cut back on the varieties (it was huge national news…just check out The Wall Street Journal), there is help online. One of my favorite blogs, Baking Bites, has a great post on how to make your own. And if your favorite cookie isn’t covered in that post, check out Chow. Fijis, Slim Mints, Do-Si-Dos, Samoas, Tagalongs…they’re all there for the making. Even if your favorite wasn’t scratched from the line-up, you should give these recipes a shot. Not only do they taste better when you make them yourself, but you also get a wonderful feeling of accomplishment that helps negate that horrible feeling you get when you look in the mirror after gorging yourself on them. And after you’ve had your fill of Girl Scout cookies, check these out, the Best Chocolate Chip cookies ever invented!

Crispy Crunchy New Jersey Diner Home Fries

Tom — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 22:21:05 +0000

These are a great addition to any breakfast, but with a couple of eggs and some bacon and toast, you feel like you’re having breakfast in a classic New Jersey diner (and make no mistake about it…there are no better diners than Jersey diners). They’re extremely simple (and fast) to make…just 1/4 inch dice two medium-sized russet potatoes (about 2-3 cups) and a small onion (about 1/4 cup). Place the diced potatoes in the microwave, cover, and cook on high, for about about a minute until partially cooked, stirring half way through to ensure even heating. Heat up a skillet (preferably a Lodge Logic 13-1/4-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skilletcast iron one), add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil and/or butter (and if you are also making bacon, use about 1-2 tablespoons of the bacon grease instead of the oil…it adds tons off extra flavor), toss in the potatoes and onions, season liberally with salt and pepper and let them fry over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 8-12 minutes until golden brown. I use a cast iron bacon press to press them down between stirs so they crisp up faster and more evenly, but it’s not necessary. That’s all there is to it…try these and you’ll agree that, for great breakfast potatoes, it really doesn’t get any better then this!

Valentine’s Day Chocolate Bag of Treats

Tom — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:00:45 +0000

Here is one of the all-time great Valentine’s Day recipes. I actually made these for the first time years ago, long before I really got into cooking, so although it might look like it’s hard to prepare, it really isn’t…and it’s a lot of fun!

1. Get a few coffee-bean bags from your grocery store. You need bags that are lined with a plastic coating so when painted with chocolate, you can peel them off easily. Cut the coffee bags so they are about 3-5 inches tall.

2. Then, in a double boiler over low heat, melt 2-3 cups of semisweet chocolate morsels.

3. Lay the bag in its side and with a small pastry brush, starting at the bottom, paint the melted chocolate over the entire interior of the bag. Use plenty of chocolate to get a nice thick coating, which will make it less likely for the chocolate to break when peeling off the bag.

4. Stand the bags up and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. They can be left in there until you need them.

5. When the chocolate is nice and hard, starting in one corner, gently peel away the bag. Use a scissor to cut the paper off as you peel it…it just makes it easier.

6. Melt some more chocolate and dip strawberries, sliced bananas and whatever else your significant other loves into the melted chocolate. As an added touch, you can also melt some white chocolate and use that to drizzle designs on the dipped treats. Lay them down on waxed paper to dry and harden.

Then just fill the bags with the treats and your favorite candies and you have an incredibly impressive presentation for your loved one on Valentine’s Day. It sure sealed the deal for me!

Oven Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings – A Great Super Bowl Party Recipe

Tom — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:40:27 +0000

One more great Super Bowl Party Recipe repost…but first, the backstory. Back in 1976, I was working at The Foundry restaurant in DC and one of the waiters, Michael Murphy, who happened to be from Buffalo, told us of the amazingly simple way they prepared, of all things, chicken wings, up there at a place called the Anchor Bar. We started giving away the Buffalo Chicken Wings during Happy Hour and immediately the place became packed each day at around 4:45 pm with everyone waiting for the wings to come out of the kitchen…and the rest is culinary history. It seems that every bar today has chicken wings on the menu, and for good reason…when they’re made right, they’re incredibly and addictingly (if that’s even a word) good! They’re actually very simple to make…cut 12 wings into three pieces at the joints (discard the wing tips or keep them for preparing stock) and just deep fry the flats and drummettes for 10-12 minutes in 375 degree oil (preferably peanut) until they’re crispy and golden brown, toss them in Frank's RedHot Hot Sauce , 23 oz (680 ml)Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and serve with celery and bleu cheese dressing…that’s it…nothing else is needed. The problem is that it’s really a pain (and a greasy mess) to deep fry at home, so here is the secret to the best way to avoid that mess, while still getting that great Buffalo Chicken Wing crunch and flavor…

…just bake them in the oven. And the real secret to getting them to cook perfectly is to first steam them in a steamer basket over boiling water for 10 minutes. Carefully pat them dry and place them on a oven proof rack (or parchment paper) in a sheet pan, sprinkle with about 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and place in the refrigerator for about an hour. Then stick the whole deal in a 425 degree oven and bake for about 40 minutes until golden and crispy, turning the wings over halfway through. This cooking technique is from Alton Brown, but in his recipe, he wants you to add butter and garlic to the sauce, which is absolutely unnecessary (and not authentic!). When the wings are done, just toss them in a generous helping (about 1/2 cup) of warmed Frank's RedHot Hot Sauce , 23 oz (680 ml)Frank’s Red Hot Sauce until completely coated and serve with bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks. There you have it…all the crispness, texture and flavor of deep frying with none of the mess.

Super Bowl Special – GIANT Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Tom — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:56:40 +0000

I’m reprising this post because this is a great recipe for a Super Bowl party…slow cooked, pulled pork sandwiches topped with my grandmother’s amazing Cole Slaw. The best thing about this pork recipe is it’s done in a Crock-Pot SCVT650-PS 6-1/2-Quart Programmable Touch Screen Slow Cooker, Stainlessslow cooker. The prep is really simple, the cooking is low and slow (it can be done overnight), the resulting flavors are incredible and, best of all, it makes dozens of sandwiches with very little effort…perfect for a party. And if any pork is left over (not likely) just divide it up into serving size portions (4-6 oz each), wrap in plastic wrap and freeze them. When you get that irresistible craving for a pulled pork sandwich, just pop one in the microwave, top it with some bbq sauce, put it in a steamed bun, slap on some cole slaw and, in minutes, I guarantee you’ll be wallowing in the throes of pulled pork nirvana!

Click here for Cookhacker’s printable Pulled Pork recipe.

Click here for Grandma Molly’s Legendary Homemade Cole Slaw recipe.

Caramelized Onions, Sausage and Mushroom Sourdough Whole Wheat Pizza

Tom — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:45:00 +0000

I’ve been getting a lot of pizza questions recently, so I just wanted to re-post a pizza story I did a while back. This was, of course, made from scratch (here’s the recipe) and it really tasted just as good as it looks. One of the most important tricks to making a great pizza is using a pizza stone…you just can’t bake a great crust without it. A pizza stone has a greater thermal mass then either a glass or metal pan and therefore holds and distributes heat better. It’s also porous, so it absorbs moisture from the dough as it cooks, all of which contributes to an amazing, crisp, uniformly browned crust. Also, definitely get yourself a pizza peel…they’re inexpensive and make putting the pizza into the oven a breeze.

Old Stone 4461 16-Inch Round Oven Pizza StonePizza stones are available just about everywhere, and come in a variety of sizes and shapes (and prices). They should be put in a cold oven, then preheated for at least 30 minutes before using. Because they are porous and absorb liquid, the stone should never be washed with soap…just a dry brush or some plain, warm water if needed. They are also ideal for baking bread.

t stone or piece of ceramic or earthenware used to evenly distribute oven heat to pizzas or other baked goods, more or less mimicking the effects of cooking a pizza in a masonry oven. Such bakeware has more thermal mass than metal or glass pans. The porous nature of the stone used also helps absorb moisture, resulting in a crisp crust.

Ready for the Oven

Nothing better then homemade pizza and this crust is simple and delicious. If you need sourdough starter, check out my bread post from last week. I prefer thin crust pizzas (being from the New York area…where we make REAL pizza), but if you prefer a thicker crust, it’s all here in the printable recipe. This is one of those recipes that appears to be a little vague at first, but once you try it and get the feel for how the dough should come together, it’s simple and quick to replicate whenever you get the urge…which for me, seems to happen about 3-4 times a week lately. And since the recipe makes 3 crusts which freeze incredibly well, you actually don’t have it make it that often. Just take one out of the freezer, and in about 3 hours, it’s ready to roll. The crust is also vary versatile and can be used in dozens of different ways. Just the other day, I topped one with just caramelized onions, crumbled goat cheese and drizzled some olive oil on it and it was amazing. It also makes a great calzone!

Please click here for the printable recipe.