The Quick Cooking Cheat Sheet
Love homemade food but hate how long
it takes? I've compiled a little cheat-sheet for you that will save you a
whole lot of time and stress the next time you cook.
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1. Before you do anything, turn on
the oven/broiler, preheat a skillet/boil the water. It takes time for
things to heat up, so this should always be your first step.
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2. Use kitchen scissors to chop cooked or tender raw vegetables (especially greens) right in the bowl or pan. |
3. Put everything in a colander and
rinse with cold water. While cooking, wash the vegetables you’ll need to
use towards the end of a recipe. Carrots and cabbage should be rinsed
before trimmed or peeled.
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4. Need minced garlic/ginger/chilies
at the same time? Peel the garlic and ginger, trim the chilies, and put
all of them in a pile. Then simply chop and mince them together.
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5. The bigger the food – the longer it takes to cook, so cut it to smaller bits, and the smaller – the better (and faster).
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6. Making a soup? Grate veggies
instead of chopping them. Chunks take 20 minutes or more to soften, but
if grated, they’ll be ready in no time.
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7. If you need to sauté or simmer
something moist (vegetables, beans, or sauces), lay different food on
top of it (especially proteins, i.e. fish/chicken/eggs), cover and let
the steam cook that upper layer. Pro tip: for a fast eggs Florentine,
steam the eggs on top of the spinach instead of poaching them
separately.
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8. When braising, use less liquid:
Submerge the ingredients in one inch of liquid, cover the pot, and cook.
Remember to occasionally turn the ingredients and to add liquid if
needed.
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9. Making one sandwich is faster than
making 2 (or 4): Simply cut a baguette in half and make your sandwich.
Cut it to as many pieces as you want.
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10. The fastest way to prep apples,
pears, tomatoes, cabbage, peaches, and bell peppers, is to slice
downward around the core, then simply cut the bits into slices/wedges.
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11. Why roast winter veggies when you
can eat them raw? Squash, parsnips, beets, and celery root make great
salads and slaws. If you want them less crispy, marinate them for half
an hour (or longer) in a vinaigrette.
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12. Process Brussels sprouts! The processor is very quick and the small pieces broil in half the time (Remember tip #5!).
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13. A soup can take hours, but cold soups (like gazpacho) is simply putting ingredients in a blender and turning it on.
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14. Use frozen vegetables. They’re
barely processed and were frozen while incredibly fresh, so enjoy them,
they’re a huge time-saver.
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15. You don’t have to wait for the
oven to reach the temperature before putting in the food (unless the
recipe calls for it). Vegetables and slow-roasted meat come out better
like this.
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16. Your butter is too hard? Melt it in the microwave! Pro tip: Use a brush for an even amount over your bread.
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17. Hate rolling meatballs? Use two spoons to put the meat in the skillet - They’ll taste the same!
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18. Use cooked cabbage as a base instead of a wrapper—same taste, less work.
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19. Forget lasagna noodles, use egg roll wrappers instead! They don’t need to be boiled and are already in easy-to-handle square
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mardi 19 août 2014
The Quick Cooking Cheat Sheet
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