Here are tips to minimize eye irritation while cutting onions.
First, don’t let the onion weep ….
> Use a sharp knife – the more blunt cuts the more damage you’ll do to the cell walls causing more weep-age.
> Refrigerate the onions – cold onions have a stronger cell wall, thus it will weep less when it’s cut.
> Soak the onions in an ice bath – this will allow the outer skins to be removed more easily, and see tip just above.
Second, you want to protect yourself …
> Remove the cut onion and any debris off of – and away from – the cutting board. Keep it at somewhat of a distance from your immediate area, and put the cut side down.
> Be in a well ventilated and open space and/or have a fan pointed at you, and/or – as I did for our housemate, Dan, the other night (when he was chopping shallots for a second round of Chicken Piccata) I grabbed a dinner plate and waved it vigorously … fanning it … forcing the vapors away from his face. He smiled very appreciatively.
> Wear contact lenses – In my chef class at Bauman College it was quite evident that those who wore contacts were not affected by the onion vapors. I can attest to this, too, it works!
…. this text first appeared in the post for this recipe: Corn Tortillas….
I always dehydrate in 2 stages, changing the temperature after 1 or 2 hours.
The first stage: Start dehydrating at 145 degrees with the food on a spill-proof sheet. At this temperature quite a bit of the moisture is eliminated quickly without heating the food too high.
The second stage: When the top is firm I flip the contents onto a screen and lower the temperature. Drop the temperature to 120 degrees or less based on these two variables: the type of food that is on the tray and my time. For example: If dehydrating over night I’ll turn the temperature down to 90 degrees. If the food is thick (and I want it dry and crunchy, I’ll drop the temperature to 120 or 110 degrees.
This short 1.36-minute video shows two tips, go to the 0.52-minute mark to see how to flip a D-tray.
Add to veggie juices: The veggie concoction I’ve been making lately is ….one carrot, one cucumber, one beet, one lemon and the juice of one coconut. Big Yum.
Add to smoothies: Jay, our housemate, has been making a nightly smoothie with coconut water, mango, black berries, macca root powder and – oh, boy, I can’t remember the last ingredient.
Add to soups: See my post for the June 30th Dinner, I used coconut water in the Roasted Tomato Soup.
I’ll add more uses to this list, check back in a week or so.
Watch these YouTube videos to learn how to open a Thai Young coconut with ease…..
NOTE: I believe, women – b/c of our physic – will be unstable performing the technique shown in the first video. I can attest to this, with my finger still wrapped in a bandage with the worst knife cut I’ve had in a long time. ouch.
String beans have a hard time absorbing flavors b/c of its tight waxy skin, so, the trick is to soak them in a salt bath in order to get the tight cellulose walls to open up, which will allow flavors to be absorbed. Here’s the best way to make good tasting string beans …
1. Wash the beans and remove the stems. Remove the tails only if they are wilting and/or are turning dark/black.
2. Soak the beans in enough water to cover, add 2 tsp sea salt to the water and stir well, let sit for at least one hour, then drain the salt water.
FYI – I would reuse the salt water – for soaking other veggies – like zucchinis, or soaking kale or other dark green leafy vegetable, or use the water in a soup.
I have more biochemical info to share about the salt bath process, yet feel I need to put my attention to writing the recipe. Let me know if you want more info about this technique, I’d be happy to share.
There are two quintessential steps, no, there are three steps, to do in order to have the most tender meat you can imagine.
Step #1. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces by cutting against the grain. This will keep the meat fibers short – lessening the workload on your teeth. See image, that illustrates the knife cuts going against the fibers of the meat.
Step #2. Once you salt, pepper and flour the chicken pieces allow the chicken to ‘sit’ for an hour. I think this gives the chicken an opportunity to dry out, which then will absorb more flavors when it’s cooked.
Step #3. Be sure to fry the chicken pieces for only 2-3 minutes on each side. In order to do this you need to set aside time to be at the stove, do small batches and have no distractions … heck, listen to ‘Thanksgiving” over and over again. (see my blog post for the whole story)
Step #4. YES – I thought of one more important step…. to let the fried chicken cool before cooking it in the white wine reduction sauce. Again, I think this gives the chicken an opportunity to dry out a bit, which allows it to absorb more flavors.
