Blanching simply is partially cooking food, typically vegetables, in boiling water or steam. Shocking is the method for stopping that cooking. We blanch and shock vegetables to prepare them for recipes, canning or freezing. This is a technique that can be useful for many vegetables.
Directions
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
Add vegetables in boiling salted water until softened slightly, yet still a little firm.
Snare a piece out of the pot and bite into it to check for doneness.
Place vegetables into a colander and completely drain off the hot water.
Immerse the cooked vegetables in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
Once cooled, pat vegetables dry and use or set aside.
There are countless varieties of dried beans to try and they all have a little something different to offer. Cooking them is easy, but it takes a little time. The time comes from the long soaking, usually overnight, so you need to plan ahead. Many books will tell you that you can cook the beans from a dry state, but try to avoid this. My experience is that beans cooked directly from a dry state tend to get mushy on the outside and lose their skins before the insides are cooked. Here is a step-by-step outline.
Directions
Place beans in a colander and rinse with cold water. Sort through them and pick out any dry husks or debris.
Place beans in a large bowl or pot along with 3 times their volume of cold water. Do not add salt or any acidic ingredients (lemon juice, tomato juice). Cover to keep out debris and bugs. Soak at room temperature for at least 6 hours.
Drain beans and rinse in a colander. Place in a heavy-bottomed pot and cook in water twice the volume of the beans. DO NOT ADD SALT, it will lengthen the cooking time and make the skins tough. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 to 3 hours depending on the beans and depending on how soft you want the beans. Taste them to judge if they are done.
Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Use or store covered in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Many recipes call for peeled and seeded tomatoes, however, in many cases this is unnecessary. Occasionally the seeds and skins can diminish the visual appeal of the dish. Peeling and seeding is especially appropriate when using raw tomatoes in a cold salsa or salad recipe. Removing the seeds leaves just the firm flesh, which keeps the sauce or salad from getting watered down. This technique is easy, but it does consume a little time.
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.
Cut out the cores from the tomatoes and cut a 2-inch cross over the opposite end of the tomatoes.
Drop the tomatoes into the boiling water and let sit until the corners of the cut start to peel away.
Remove the tomatoes with a set of tongs and cool under cold running water.
Grab the peeling corners with your hands or a knife and peel each corner back in one motion until completely peeled.
Cut the tomatoes in half along the equator. Scoop the seeds out with a spoon or, if you are going to roughly chop the tomatoes, simply squeeze them until the seeds fall out.
You can roast any kind of pepper. The roasting tends to sweeten the flesh, but the real jackpot from roasting is the delightful richness that the charring and roasting brings to the pepper. You might get an argument from some foodies, but in my opinion the best result is realized when you char the pepper black and leave bits and pieces of the skin with that delicious char on the pepper. Choose any sweet or hot pepper, some are easier to skin than others, but they will all be delicious roasted.
Directions
Rub liberally with salad or olive oil.
Cook and char over direct flame, it is sexier and more authentic to roast them over a roaring wood or charcoal fire, but you can get very good results roasting over the flame from a gas range (it may be a little messy). You may also roast peppers under a very hot broiler.
Turn the peppers so that they char on all sides.
As you finish each pepper, slip them into a large bowl inside a large plastic bag while still hot. Let the peppers sweat in the bag for at least 15 minutes.
After the sweat, pull the charred skin off the flesh. It should be fairly easy to remove, but don't be too fussy about getting every last bit.
Discard the stem and skin and scrape out the seeds from inside the pepper.
Peppers can be canned or will keep for a week in the refrigerator.
All you need to prepare a vegetable stock is a large pot and any handy vegetable trimmings. It's best to have some type of onion in the stock, but all other ingredients are completely interchangeable. Garlic skins, herb stems, tomato and pepper cores and seeds, celery ribs and leaves, carrot peels, radish tops, chard stems, broccoli and Brussels sprout stems, bean stems, radish tops, chili pepper seeds (if you like it spicy) are all possibilities. You could also add mustard seed, cloves, citrus peel, or any variety of vinegar — the more items, the stronger the flavor.
Directions
Fill the desired size pot with cold water; determined by the amount of stock you wish to prepare.
Add 1 bay leaf, 1 tablespoon of peppercorns, salt to taste and the vegetable trimmings. Almost anything adds flavor to the stock.
Bring the stock to a boil, lower heat, and let simmer for no longer than an hour. The flavor will be extracted in that time and any longer will make the stock cloudy.
Pour the liquid through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. Use immediately or cool to below 40 F. This takes approximately 2 to 4 hours. It will keep a week in the refrigerator or freeze up to a year.
Tip: For any of you who are not vegan, here's a nifty trick. Break an egg or two, shells and all, into the stock while it simmers. This will clarify the stock.
Many Indian recipes call for the firm thick yogurt this preparation produces.
The longer you let this sit, the thicker and firmer it will be.
Ingredients
3 cups plain yogurt (any type)
Directions
Line a sieve or colander with a large double thickness of cheesecloth or place a large flat-bottomed coffee filter in the sieve or colander.
Spoon the yogurt into a cheesecloth or coffee filter, and place over a bowl to catch the liquid.
Cover with plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
Discard the liquid.