Good Things to Know
from
Emeril's There's a Chef in My Soup
Let's Get Started
Washing
Fresh veggies and fruits should always be rinsed well under cold running
water and then patted dry with paper towels before using. Some veggies,
such as potatoes, need to be scrubbed well with a vegetable brush. Meat,
poultry, and seafood should be washed before using, too. Simply rinse
under cold water and then pat dry with paper towels before continuing.
Peeling
Some fruits and veggies peel easily with a vegetable peeler. Place the
food (such as a carrot, cucumber, potato, apple, or pear) on a cutting
board and hold firmly with one hand. Using the other hand, scrape the
peeler down the length of the food. Keep turning as you go, so that you
remove all of the peel.
Other foods, such as onions and garlic, are peeled differently. Use a
sharp knife to cut a little off of both ends. Then use your fingers to
peel away the dry, tough outer layers. For garlic, press down on it with
the palm of your hand to loosen the skin. It will then peel off very
easily.
Chopping
When chopping round foods like potatoes or carrots, the first thing you
should do is cut off a small piece from one side so that it doesn't roll
away while you're cutting it. Place this flat part down on the cutting
board. Then, hold one side of the food firmly with one hand and cut the
food to the shape or size desired. The more you chop, the smaller the
pieces will get.
When it comes to chopping, onions are in a league all their own! Once
they're peeled, cut them in half lengthwise and place them flat side
down on the cutting board. Then, while holding the root end with your
fingers, make many lengthwise cuts all the way down to the cutting
board. Then turn your knife and cut across the lengthwise cuts. Pieces
of onion will fall away on the cutting board. The closer your cuts are
to one another, the smaller the pieces of onion will be!
Mincing garlic is easy! Separate the head of garlic into cloves. Peel as
described on page 18, then use your chef's knife or a paring knife to
cut the cloves lengthwise and then crosswise into small pieces. (Another
way to do this is with a garlic press, which is really easy and safe-and
fun! Just put the garlic into the press, close it, and press real hard.
Little pieces of garlic-just the right size-will come out of the holes!)
Grating
When grating hard foods, like carrots or potatoes, hold the grater with
one hand and the piece of food firmly in the other. Rub the end of the
veggie downward over the holes, back and forth over a large mixing bowl
or piece of waxed paper, and the grated pieces will fall through the
holes. Be very careful not to grate your fingers-that hurts! Soft foods,
such as cheese, are really easy to grate!
Coring apples
o With an apple corer: Hold the apple firmly on your cutting board.
Center the apple corer over the core and press down firmly until you
feel the corer hit the cutting board. Twist and pull corer out of the
apple, and the core should come right out.
o With a paring knife: Cut the apple in half. Cut each half in half
again. Place the apple on the cutting board and cut the core away from
the apple.
o With a melon baller: This is the easiest way to core an apple! Cut an
apple in half. Place the apple half on the cutting board, core side up.
Hold the melon baller in your other hand and center it over the core of
the apple. Press down into the apple and twist. A round piece of apple
core should come right out.
Hulling strawberries
Place the strawberry on the cutting board and hold the pointed side with
one hand. Using a paring knife, cut across the top to remove the stem.
Fruits with pits
(such as peaches, nectarines, cherries, plums) To remove the pit,
simply cut the fruit in half along the indentation, then twist the two
halves apart.
Zesting
You can "zest" any citrus fruit (lemons, limes, oranges, or
grapefruits). Using a "zester," it's really easy. Simply pull the zester
down the side of a piece of fruit, pressing at the same time so that the
zester removes tiny strips of the outermost layer of peel. If you don't
have a zester, a fine grater works too. Over a bowl or a piece of waxed
paper, rub the side of the fruit along the grater while lightly pressing
down. The small pieces of zest will fall through the grater. Be sure you
get only the colored part of the peel: The white part is bitter!
Trimming meat
It's a good idea to trim the excess fat off of meat before cooking.
Simply use a very sharp knife and follow the line between the meat and
the fat. If a little fat is left, that's okay.
Cracking and separating eggs
To crack an egg, hold it firmly in one hand while you hit the middle
part (not too hard!) against the rim of a bowl. Then take both hands and
grasp the cracked edges and pull apart. It's always a good idea to crack
an egg into a separate bowl before adding it to a recipe so that you can
see if any bits of shell fell into the egg. (If so, remove them before
adding the egg to the recipe!) Sometimes a recipe will call for just egg
yolks or egg whites. To separate eggs and use either the yolk or white
only, crack the egg lightly and pull the halves apart, carefully letting
the white drip into a cup. Keep the yolk in the eggshell. Gently move
the yolk from one eggshell half to the other, letting the white drip
into the cup until only the yolk is left in the shell. Be careful not to
break the yolk so that it bleeds into the egg white.
Cutting chickens
If a recipe calls for a whole chicken cut into pieces, please don't try
to cut one up yourself. This is really hard and very dangerous. Either
have your parents do it for you or buy a cut-up chicken at the grocery
store.
Removing sausage from casing Sometimes sausage comes stuffed in
"casing," which keeps it together. To remove the sausage from the
casing, simply use the point of a sharp knife to cut the tip off of one
end of the sausage link and squeeze from the bottom up to force the meat
mixture out.
How to Know When Enough is Enough
Measuring
It's best to use individual 1/4-, 1/3-, 1/2-, and 1-cup measuring cups
when you can-it's the easiest and most accurate way to measure things.
When measuring dry ingredients such as flour, sugar, or rice, use a
metal or plastic measuring cup. Dip the appropriate size measuring cup
into the ingredient that is to be measured, then use a knife or your
hand to level off the top.
When measuring liquids, use glass or plastic measuring cups that you can
see through. Fill until the liquid comes to the appropriate line on the
cup, checking at eye level to make sure you've measured the correct
amount.
Measuring spoons are easy to use. For dry foods, just dip the spoons
into whatever you're measuring, then level off the top. For liquids,
such as oil or vanilla extract, hold the spoon in one hand and pour with
the other. Make sure to hold the spoon level, and always fill it all the
way to the top!
Determining container capacity
If you're not sure of the size of a saucepan, baking dish, or other
container, simply use a measuring cup to fill it with water. Count the
number of cups it takes to fill the container and then figure out its
size by referring to the equivalents chart below.
Now we're cooking!
Mixing
Just another term for combining things, usually with a "mixer," which
has beaters instead of spoons. Lock the beaters into the mixer, lower
the beaters into the mixing bowl, then turn the power on slowly. As the
mixture becomes more blended, you can increase the speed.
Beating
This means mixing things together quickly so that air is added to the
mixture and it becomes smooth and creamy. Usually done with a mixer, you
can also beat things with a spoon-it just takes a little elbow grease!
Stirring
Use a spoon to stir in a circular motion until the ingredients are all
blended.
Folding
This is a way of mixing things together very gently so that they stay
fluffy. Use a large plastic or rubber spatula and, instead of stirring,
place it into the bowl and combine the ingredients with two or three
up-and-over, or "folding," motions. Don't overmix!
Sifting
This is done to make sure there are no lumps in dry foods like flour or
sugar. Just hold the sifter over a bowl and shake from side to side
(some sifters have knobs to turn or handles to squeeze).
Creaming
This refers to beating butter and sugar together very well until it
becomes light and "creamy."
Soft peaks
This term is used when beating things like heavy cream or egg whites.
After you turn the mixer off and lift the beaters out of the bowl, if a
little of the mixture comes up where the beaters were, forming a soft
mound that stays up, that's a soft peak.
Scraping down bowl
This is done to make sure everything gets mixed evenly. Just hold the
edge of the mixing bowl in one hand, then run a plastic or rubber
spatula all the way around the inside of the bowl to "scrape down" the
sides.
Eggs
Eggs come in different sizes. When using eggs for the recipes in this
book, always use the ones labeled large.
Working butter into flour
You can do this with a pastry blender, two forks or butter knives, or
your fingers. The main thing is that the butter is rubbed into the flour
so that only small pieces of butter are visible and the rest has been
combined with the flour. When it's done, it will look like small crumbs.
Softening butter
If a recipe calls for butter to be softened, it means at room
temperature-not straight from the refrigerator. If you forget to take
the butter out to soften, try placing it in a microwave-proof bowl and
microwave on high for 5 to 10 seconds. This works great.
Rolling dough
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and sprinkle the top with
flour. Using a rolling pin, roll while pressing down on the dough. Begin
by rolling front to back, then switch directions and roll side to side.
If the rolling pin sticks, sprinkle a little more flour. Continue
rolling until the dough is the desired size and thickness.
Greasing a pan
Greasing helps keep baked goods from sticking to the pan. It's easy to
do this with your hands, but if you don't want to get stuff all over
them, then try using a paper towel to spread the shortening or oil. Just
make sure you don't miss any spots!
Measuring thickness of dough
Until you have a lot of practice with this, it's a good idea to keep a
ruler handy. This is an easy way to see if you've rolled your dough out
to the correct thickness.
Kneading dough
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Use one hand to firmly
press into one side of the dough. Pick up the other side of the dough
with your other hand and fold it over, again pressing into the dough.
Pick up the opposite edge of the dough and do the same. Repeat this
process for as long as instructed in the individual recipe directions.
The dough should become smooth and elastic. If the dough gets sticky,
sprinkle with a bit more flour.
Proofing yeast
This is a way of making sure the yeast is working! Let it sit for about
5 minutes in a warm liquid. If it's working, you will see lots of foam
and little bubbles rise to the surface.
Melting chocolate in a double boiler
Fill the bottom of a double boiler with about 2 inches of water. Insert
the top of the double boiler and place the chocolate in it. Set on the
stovetop and simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally until the
chocolate is melted. If you don't have a double boiler, you can use a
medium saucepan for the bottom part and a metal bowl large enough to sit
on top of the saucepan without touching the water at the bottom.
Is it done yet?
Testing the heat of a pan
You can test the heat of a pan by dropping a teaspoon of water in it.
The pan is hot enough to cook in when the water "dances" into drops
across the bottom.
Testing with toothpicks
This is an easy trick! Insert a toothpick into the center of a cake-if
it comes out clean when you pull it out, the cake is done. If you can
see gooey stuff or bits of crumbs sticking to it, then it needs a bit
more cooking time.
Thermometer usage
Some recipes in this book suggest using an instant-read thermometer when
things need to be at a certain temperature. Though this is not always
necessary, a thermometer does help you make sure that things are cooked
enough. Thermometers also help when cooking with yeast, because you
usually need to add warm water or other liquid to it in order for it to
start working. A thermometer will tell you if the liquid is too hot or
too cold. (If you use a thermometer, make sure that it is inserted far
enough into whatever you're testing so that you get a true temperature.)
Fork-tender
When you insert a fork into something and it goes in easily, then it is
said to be fork-tender.
Meat doneness
Because some meat may contain germs that can make you sick, it's a good
idea to cook your meat until it's no longer pink inside. This is called
being "cooked through." Even better, if you have an instant-read
thermometer, simply insert the tip into the meat (there is usually a
mark on the thermometer that shows how far it should be inserted), wait
a few seconds until the temperature stops rising, and then read the
number. For beef, medium well to well done is 150° to 165°F. For
chicken, turkey, or pork, always cook to at least 160°F.
Kick up the flavor!
Dried vs. fresh herbs
Most of the recipes in this book call for dried herbs, since this is
what most folks have at home. It's really easy to kick them up a notch
by rubbing them between your fingers before adding them to the recipe.
They will release more flavor this way! And hey, if your mom or dad has
an herb garden and you have access to fresh herbs, feel free to use them
in recipes. Just take the leaves off of the stems and chop into small
pieces with a knife. Remember, though, that to get the same amount of
flavor from fresh herbs, you'll have to use about 3 times the amount of
dried herbs called for in the recipe.
Pepper
When a recipe calls for ground black pepper, the kind you buy in spice
jars or tins is just fine. However, if you have a pepper mill at home,
there's nothing like the flavor of fresh-ground pepper.
Measurement Equivalents
3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon
4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup
1 cup = 1/2 pint = 8 ounces
2 cups = 1 pint = 16 ounces
2 pints = 1 quart = 32 ounces
4 quarts = 1 gallon = 128 ounces
1 stick butter = 8 tablespoons =
1/4 pound = 1/2 cup
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