Bits & Pieces

The importance of dry lettuce....

For years, until purchasing a lettuce spinner, the process of washing and drying lettuce was a bit of a pain. And even then my lettuce would sag as soon as the dressing went on. Invest in a spinner and your salads (and guests) will love you. Soak your lettuce in cold water and break off any brown bits, shake and spin and what you will have is clean, dry lettuce. The cold soak will have restored any wilting; the spin will evenly remove water without crushing or bruising your lettuce. Because your lettuce is now dry your dressing will “stick” to it, so you will use less dressing and there won’t be a pool of dressing at the bottom of the bowl. If you are preparing your lettuce to store, snap lock plastic bags or specific vegetable storage bags are ideal. Place a square of paper towel at the bottom of the bag and clean, dry lettuce is ready to go, straight from the fridge. NB: some lettuce will keep longer than others, I find iceberg and cos will brown the quickest.
Go now and buy yourself a lettuce spinner. After you wash your lettuce, you spin and the lettuce is fresh, alive, crisp and no limpness in sight.

Salt & Pepper

Salad dressing is usually applied just before serving, so your lettuce or salad vegetables don’t soak it up and go soggy. Salt applied too early can make lettuce limp, as it draws the water out. BUT don’t leave it off. Salt and pepper is a must on salads and lettuce especially.

Blanched, Blanching.

This is the process where you cook vegies quickly, in boiling water, just to soften them slightly, and make them more digestible but without cooking away the nutrients. Used mainly in salads and stir-fries.
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add salt, put lid on immediately after adding each veg. Keep water boiling. Use slotted spoon to lift out.
Carrot sticks – 30sec
Beans – 20sec
Broccoli – 20sec
Snap peas – 15sec
Snow peas – 10sec

Poaching

Is cooking meat in liquid. ex bringing stock to a simmer and poaching chicken or fish. (For eggs, add vinegar and salt to the water or you’ll end up with egg soup)

Parmesan

Parmigiano-Reggiano originated in Parma, Italy. Parmesan is intense, complex and salty in flavour, which is why it is used finely grated over pasta, salads, and soups. Other varieties of this strong hard waxy cheese are Pecorino, Asiago, and Romano.

Toasting nuts and seeds

Eg pine nut, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds.
No oil, shake the pan back and forth to stop sticking and burning. Nuts are ready when lightly brown and when their aroma is released. 1-2 mins

Stock

For those of you that make your own, good on you. These days good quality, 100% natural stock cubes are available from health food or grocery stores. Or your local butcher may have there own stock for sale.

Caramelised

This process brings out the sweetness in the onion...as long as you don’t burn them.
Heat olive oil & butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, stir to coat with the oil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and have just begun to colour, about 20 minutes.
(Variation -Stir in pinches of rosemary, or a pinch of sugar or a splash of beer if cooked on the BBQ)

Olives

As a general rule it is perfectly acceptable to use olives in salads that still have their pips. On a pizza or in recipes where the olives are cooked, however, biting into a hard olive seed is horrible. But the least a machine has fussed with our olive the better. If a recipe calls for no pips, lay a knife flat over the olive and press down, the skin will split revealing the pip and off you go.
My neighbour used to cure and jar her own olives...yum.

Meat & salmonella

If you are preparing a warm salad, then you would cook your meat straight from the fridge and serve hot on top of your salad. But if you choose to serve the meat cooled, then please cover and refrigerate after 5 mins. Cool completely before adding to a salad. Meat, especially chicken, only needs a slightly warm temperature to begin growing bacteria. Be safe. Don’t make yourself or your friends sick!

How to make croutons....

Preheat oven 100°C. Get a good quality baguette, cut into ¼ inch slices, lay them out on a tray, and brush lightly with olive oil. Toast in the oven until crisp and golden, about 20 mins.
(Variation – for garlic lovers take a raw clove of garlic and scrape the surface)