How to Boil Pasta

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Cooking spaghetti. Photo by Eloquence.

See how the oil sits on top? Do not put oil in pasta water, it just goes down the drain. Oil pasta after cooking.

Dear Tyler,

Here is another assumption I made. Since your father is Italian, and you grew up eating pasta, I assumed you knew how to cook it.

Boiling pasta is really quite simple.

You need to use a pot big enough to hold enough water to cook the amount of pasta you need. Err on too much water rather than not enough water.

English: Boling water in colour

Bring the water to a boil. A boil is when the bubbles actively break the surface. A boil measures 212°F (100°C) on a thermometer. A lid on the pot will help water boil faster. If you live in a high altitude (like the mountain house) water won’t boil without a lid, and the boiling point decreases 1° every 500 feet in elevation (or 1° C every 285 meters). it has everything to do with atmospheric pressure. Actually, boiling point is quite a science subject.

Always salt the water AFTER it reaches an active boil. In the science community, adding a solute to the water creates a solution that raises the temperature of the boiling point. Scientists will argue that it is not necessary to add salt because the amount of increased temperature isn’t worth it to ‘cook faster’. This is not why we add salt.

We add salt for flavor.

We add salt after a boil is reached so the salt does not pit our pots over a lifetime of poor cooking habits.

Most of all, we add salt to things we boil for flavor. Boiled potatoes are ever so bland when salt is left out. The amount required isn’t much, just enough to lightly flavor the water.

Be aware, when you add salt to boiling water, the water will flare up momentarily. Be ready for it to avoid getting burned.

Choose your favorite pasta and read the package it comes in. Look for cooking directions for the time it takes to cook the pasta to “Al-dente“. Each pasta will have different cooking times.

Place the pasta in the pot, stir it up so it does not stick together. If using a long pasta, don’t break it so it fits in the pot! Short strands are hard to twirl onto the fork.

Lean the noodles up against the side of the pot and using tongs, as the pasta under the water softens, fold the rest of the pasta under the water. Be sure to stir it all around so nothing gets stuck either to other pasta strands or the bottom or sides of the pot.

This is especially true of fettuccine or linguine and other flat pasta.

Comparison between different types of long Ita...

Comparison between different types of long Italian pasta (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Set a timer fort the required time.

If cooking fresh pasta, the time will be very short, dried pasta takes longer.

Drain the pasta in a colander and try to save about a cup of the pasta water.

Boiling pasta

Boiling pasta. Fold the ends under the water as the pasta softens. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Did you notice there was never a mention to put oil in the water while boiling?

Ha! That is because the oil sits on the top of the water while the pasta is below the water. It does nothing to keep the pasta from sticking together.

Stirring the pasta after you first put it in the water does.

After draining, put the pasta into a serving bowl and drizzle with a great olive oil.

Serve as you like.

If you are going to use the pasta in a salad or need it cold, rinse the pasta in cold water after draining to stop the cooking process. Drizzle with olive oil to prevent sticking.

If the pasta gets dry or you need more moisture in your sauce, add a small bit of the pasta water. This is why you do not want to over salt the water. Only salt it enough to make it taste good.

If you want to re-heat pasta that has been refrigerated, simple bring water to a boil and dip the pasta in for a minute or so, just to warm it, not cook it. This can be done in a small amount of water.

Drain and serve as desired.

This works for all kinds of pasta, semolina, whole wheat, rice, artichoke, quinoa etc. Read the package for length of cooking time.

Short pasta

Short pasta (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Short pasta

Short pasta (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pasta is a great budget stretcher so learn to cook it correctly.

The basic technique:

Boil the water – use lots of water!

Salt after water boils

Stir the pasta after adding to boiling water to prevent sticking

Drain

Drizzle with olive oil and serve

OR

Drain, rinse  in cold water to cool and drizzle with oil.

Enjoy!

Love, Mom

Pasta again!

Pasta again! (Photo credit: HatM)

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Tuna, White Beans, Artichokes and the “Presto Chango” Effect

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Tuna, White Beans, Artichokes and the “Presto Chango” Effect

We decided to paint the kitchen ourselves this past weekend. The quotes we were getting to do the job seemed over the top ridiculous.

Personally, I enjoy painting the rooms of my dwelling space.

I have learned to detest wallpaper and love the instant gratification of paint.

Immediate gratification.

The “Presto Chango” Effect.

Unless something technical needs to be done; I can paint walls and cabinets like a pro. Based upon what we found while doing this project, we certainly did it better than the last “pro” who was hired to paint.

I love doing it. There is another mental space I go to when doing these kind of projects. It is a fun place to go and I don’t stay long so it is best to take advantage when it comes around.

“Let’s go buy paint and get going ” we discussed one morning.

So off we went to the paint store to buy what we needed to transform the kitchen.

Robert was amazed as to how much we actually were able to do in a days time. We began on Saturday, mid-morning, and finished Monday around dinner time, after work.

Over last weekend we dismantled the kitchen; removed cabinet doors and hinges; and such.

This is how the sequence went: Degrease, wash, dry, sand, damp mop dust, dry, prime, paint 2 coats, let dry.

The kitchen is now back in working order and feels great to be cooking again.

Presto Chango. Gotta love it.

This is an easy recipe when you want something quick and easy. (And don’t want to mess up the kitchen.)

The entire dish is easily made in the time it takes to cook the pasta.

You only need a few ingredients.

Cannellini Beans, canned tuna, artichoke hearts, lemon and pasta and cheese if you like.

These are the major ingredients: Artichoke hearts, cannellini beans, anchovies, pasta, here we are using “orecchiette” and Tuna, which is not pictured.

Tuna, White Beans, Artichokes and Pasta

  • 1 – 2 ounce tin of anchovies in oil
  • 1/2 onion or shallot, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced or minced
  • 1 – 5 ounce can of “Wild Planet” wild caught tuna. This tuna is not oil packed. (Use your favorite Tuna)
  • 1-14 ounce can of artichoke hearts – packed in water, not oil
  • 1-15 ounce can Bushes Cannellini Beans (also known as white kidney beans)
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 package of your favorite pasta shape. I like Orecchiette for this because of the shape and the ability to hold on to sauce. (The pasta looks like little hats when cooked.)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Parmesan or Asiago cheese to shred over top

Bring the water for the pasta to a boil, salt the water and add pasta.

Note how long the pasta takes to cook so it does not get over done and mushy.

Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add the anchovies and saute until they “dissolve” while being cooked.

Add the  onions and garlic. Saute until the onions are soft and the garlic is fragrant.

Add the artichokes, beans and tuna and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer.

Add the lemon zest and juice.

Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.

When the pasta is done, drain and fold it into the pan with the other ingredients.

Top with shredded cheese and serve.

A salad on the side rounds the meal out nicely.

Tuna, white beans and artichoke pasta

How To: Standard Breading Procedure

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Dear Tyler,

You asked how to bread something to make Tonkatsu or Parmesan style dishes. So here it is!

If you want to bread something so the breading actually stays on the product, you need to follow a standard breading procedure,

It is a 5 station set-up. Breading your food using this method ensures a great finished dish.

Flour, Egg wash and Bread crumbs
(To remember the order, think of the abbreviation for the month of February: FEB)

1) Ready to go product – seasoned

2) Flour – just plain flour

3) Egg wash – make it liquid

4) Bread crumbs – You can use any bread crumbs, Panko are amazing in my opinion. Instead of bread crumbs, you can also use any kind of ground nut, crushed potato chips, corn flakes, or plantain chips, Trisket crumbs, coconut, etc.

5) Final breaded product

In this post I am using catfish, but the same method works for everything you want to bread.

Prepare the product, trim it, skin it, pound it thin, what ever you want to do, do it before it gets breaded.

Season with salt and pepper and other seasonings if desired.

Here, catfish is getting seasoned with lemon ginger seasonings before breading

Dip each piece into the flour

Then into the egg wash

Then into the bread crumbs

Place the breaded items onto a baking sheet; drizzle with oil.
Bake at 375 F for 20-30 minutes to ‘oven fry’ or pan fry in a saute pan with a small amount of oil.

The family favorite for this is to make “Katsudon”  with thin sliced pork loin or a chicken breast sliced and pounded thin. We serve it over Basmati rice with Bull Dog Brand Tonkatsu Sauce. (I usually buy this in an Asian grocery store.)

Bull Dog Sauce

When using chicken breasts, you can cut them into fingers or slice a large breast into thirds, place each slice into a zip bag (don’t zip it!) and pound gently it so it gets evenly flattened. Season and proceed with the breading procedure.

To pan fry instead of cooking the cutlets in the oven, heat a saute pan to high, add a thin-film of oil to the pan and saute until each side is golden brown.

Pan fry in a thin-film of oil until golden on each side

Add steamed broccoli to round out your meal.

You can take the plain breaded cutlets and serve them with different sauces and sides to create very different meals from breaded cutlets.

Boil some rice, add some frozen green peas when the rice is done. The peas only need to warm through.

Place the fried cutlet on top of the rice and drizzle with Bulldog sauce.

To make a “true” katsudon, place caramelized onions over the hot steamed rice, top with the cutlet and then top it all with an egg. Cover and the steam from the cutlet and the rice will gently cook the egg. Break the egg yolk and stir it in to create a wonderful sauce. Drizzle with Bull Dog Sauce .

Tonkatsu with Bull Dog Sauce

You can create Chicken Parmesan by topping the golden brown cutlet with marinara sauce and cheese – I am partial to Asiago – but Parmesan, or mozzarella are just fine too.

Melt and brown the cheese, serve over pasta and more sauce on the side. Top it all with more cheese and serve with a salad on the side.

Chicken Parmesan

Breaded Cutlet with Lemon

Be careful when pan frying, place the cutlets into the pan so it splashes away from you, not towards you. Once the cutlets are golden brown, you can finish cooking them in the oven that has been pre-heated to 350°F.

Enjoy making these and think of other ways to serve them too. Change the sauce ( try Thai Green sauce!) and starch. Put a cutlet on a bun, add coleslaw and BBQ sauce to make it into a sandwich.Or make Chicken Piccata with lemon and capers.

Let me know if you come up with other ideas!

If you want to freeze the breaded cutlets, freeze them raw as soon as you finish breading them. You can cook from frozen over medium heat.

Love ya!

Mom

How To: Saffron ‘Aioli’

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Dear Tyler,

When I had the restaurant, we used this recipe instead of plain mayonnaise for lots of things.

You loved it then, as I’m sure you would now.

Low fat or lite mayonnaise will fine for this.

I prefer and highly recommend Duke’s brand from an old southern family recipe and family run business.

Besides being family run, they make a darn good mayonnaise.

Here is how to turn Saffron Aioli into one great condiment that flavors everything very well.

Use it anywhere you would mayonnaise.

About the ingredients:

Saffron is the stamen of the crocus flower. The best quality comes from Spain and all stamen are hand-picked.

It is one of the worlds most expensive spices.

Saffron is coveted for the lovely yellow color and the exotic scent and flavor it contributes to the dishes wherever used.

I’ll do a post on Saffron later.

Aioli refers to garlic flavored mayonnaise.

However, a true Aioli is crushed garlic with olive oil. Some recipes ask for an egg yolk to assist with the emulsification of oil and garlic. Making it correctly is hard and the mixture is temperamental.

It takes a long time to make real aioli which is why mayonnaise has become a common substitute.

Yes, we will use mayonnaise in this recipe.

Saffron Aioli

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2  Tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon each, minced garlic and minced shallot (use the microplane)

1 cup mayonnaise of your choice – I prefer Dukes.

Just don’t pick “miracle whip”!

Add the vinegar, honey, saffron, shallots and garlic to a small saute pan.

Cook the mixture down until it remains separated when a spoon is drawn through the mixture on the bottom of the pan as shown.

Cool the mixture and add it to mayonnaise

Stir it in thoroughly. The longer the saffron sits in the mixture, the more color will dissipate. Stir it in before using to evenly distribute the flavor and color.

Saffron Aioli

Store this Saffron Aioli in the refrigerator and use within a month. Use the expiration date of the mayonnaise used as your guide.

As the aioli sits, it will become more yellow. Stir the color in so there is uniform color and saffron flavor.

It is delicious!

You can use this as a dressing for steamed vegetables like broccoli, carrots, and asparagus.

If you are one to put mayonnaise on your french fries, try this instead. 😉

Yes, you can leave out the shallots, but you have eaten them and liked them.

Make Saffron Aioli in small batches so it is fresh.

I’d like to know if you remember the flavor when you taste it!

Study well.

Love You,

Mom

BTW: You can purchase a small amount of Saffron in local stores. The quantity you buy is so small it is usually packed in small bags or vials  inside much larger packages to deter theft.

Why theft? Because it is pricy and very small.

I sent you some in a small plastic bag and inside a small mason jar. (The smallest one!) Keep it in a dark cabinet away from the heat of the stove, top of fridge or dishwasher.

It will last a long time, if you keep it sealed and in the dark.

When you use it, you only need a small pinch. Just a a few stamens, 5or 6 are enough for a cup of aioli.

XO

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How to: Egg White Omelet

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Dear Tyler,

You asked: How do you separate eggs to make an egg white omelet?

There are two ways to do it manually and one way to do it while shopping.

Shopping: buy egg whites in a carton like you do milk. What? You don’t buy milk? Then just buy the whites that come in a carton package just like cream or half and half does. You won’t need to separate or waste the yolks.

To do it manually, follow these directions.

To separate yolks from whites, you will need:

  • A raw egg or two or three etc.
  • A bowl to catch the whites
  • A bowl to put the yolks in
  • Trash for the shells

Step 1:

Crack the egg on a flat surface.

Why a flat surface? Between the shell and the actual egg is a membrane that protects the egg. It is attached to the shell. When you crack the egg on a flat surface, the membrane merely splits yet remains attached to the shell.

When the egg is cracked on the edge of something like a bowl or counter edge, the membrane gets torn and separates from the shell allowing shell fragments to get into the eggs.

If this happens, use a large piece of egg-shell to scoop out the fragments of shell.

Crack the egg, separate the shell . . .

Catch the yolk between your fingers.
Allow the whites to fall into the bowl below.

Whip the egg whites for 2-3 minutes. Build some volume to create a fluffy omelet.

The whites should be frothy. Season with salt, pepper, herbs or what ever you prefer. I always used “herbs de Provence”, salt and pepper.

Brush a non-stick pan with oil to leave a thin coating on the bottom and the sides

Pour the frothed and seasoned egg whites into a warm, oiled pan.
When you oil the pan, set the heat to medium. The pan should be warm before you add the seasoned egg whites.
Do not use a hot pan! Medium heat is all you need.

While the eggs are ‘setting’, shred some cheese or desired fillings over the egg whites.

As the whites begin to set, use a heat-resistant spatula to lift the edge of the omelet all the way around the pan.

The omelet should lift easy from the pan. Use your spatula to see if it lifts. If not let it cook a bit longer.
Remember Low to Medium Heat!

Life one side and fold it over the other

Fold it in half and serve right away.
If you let it sit around too long, it will “fall”.
Sure, it will taste as good, just not look the best.

Bon Appétit!

It may take some practice but once you get the hang of it, you will be able to whip out an omelet in no time!

The fillings can be anything you want or have on hand. Just be sure it is fully cooked.

The heat of cooking an omelet is just enough to melt cheese. So keep that in mind.

No raw meats, seafood etc. Cook it first, which is why left overs are great omelet fillings.

Let me know how it works out for you!

Love,

Mom

Food Safety In the Refrigerator

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Everyone needs reminders of how to handle food safely. As a professional who teaches food safety, I believe you can’t hear it enough. Small reminders and a bit of education can help save a lot of grief in preventing a multitude of food borne illnesses for anyone who handles food.

Do you know how to keep food safe in the refrigerator?

Current Contents of Refrigerator

Current Contents of Refrigerator (Photo credit: Natalie Maynor)

This post will outline the basic concept of refrigerator storage to reduce the chance of cross contamination.

The top of the fridge should be home to all ready to eat foods. Sandwich meats, cheese, leftovers get stored above raw products.

Some refrigerators have 2 bottom drawers. Designate one for raw meats and one for fresh produce. If you only have one large drawer, buy plastic storage bin that will fit on one side and designate that for meat storage. Keep all poultry separate from meat.

Raw meats should be stored in the following order

  1. Things that swim
  2. Things that walk
  3. Things that are ground-up walking around
  4. Things that fly or come from things that fly

This is called “The Swim, Walk, Fly System” of refrigerated storage.

To describe each category:

  1. Things that swim

    English: Sushi is a dish made of vinegared ric...

    Raw seafood (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Raw fresh water and salt water fish, whole or fillets, shell-fish, shrimp, lobster, crab, mussels, oysters, etc.

If it is pre-cooked, it goes with the ready-to-eat category.

2. Things that walk

English: Veal shank used for ossobuco. Dansk: ...

English: Veal shank used for osso buco.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Raw beef, pork, veal, lamb, venison, boar, buffalo

     3. Things that are ground-up walking around

Raw Ground beef

Raw Ground beef (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Any raw ground beef, veal, pork, venison, buffalo: if it is ground up it goes below whole muscle meats.

      4. Things that fly or come from things that fly

Raw chicken fillet

Raw chicken fillet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All raw birds: chicken, quail, turkey, pheasant, squab, duck, and even though it does not fly, ostrich belongs in this category.

Raw eggs belong on the bottom shelf too. If one breaks, it won’t have the chance of dripping all over other things in the refrigerator.

Here is an interesting experiment to try with a raw egg:

English: The white eggshell has been removed b...

English: The white eggshell has been removed by soaking a normal chicken egg into vinegar for 48 hours. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Of course don’t eat the egg after.

Make it a habit to wash the drawers and shelves when they get soiled or sticky.

An open box of baking soda will help absorb strong odors.

After handling raw meats, poultry and seafood, be sure to wash and sanitize the knives, cutting boards, sinks and counter tops to prevent cross contamination.

Clorox Clean-up spray does a great job of this. Use gloves when handling to protect your skin.

That’s it for now.

I’m going to go soak an egg.

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How to Boil Rice

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Dear Tyler,

There are many kinds of rice to choose and methods of how to cook; this post is about how to boil rice. This is the most simple and least complicated method.

You just need to pay attention while it is cooking.

Let’s talk about the forms of rice that are out there. I am not going to go into all the varieties, this is just to tell you how to boil basic rice.

You don’t always have to cook rice.

You already know about the pre-cooked rice packets you can buy either shelf stable or frozen in vacuum sealed packets. These area great to have on hand when you don’t feel like cooking.

Trader Joe’s frozen Brown Rice is so nice and easy! Nuke and eat.

But you pay a price for that convenience. These products are ‘expensive’ in the relative terms of how much rice actually cost.

Rice on its own is cheap. It is a meal staple in many parts of the world for good reason.

I love the taste of rice, white, basmati, brown, mahogany, black or red. I love the texture, the way it carries sauces and serves as a flavor base for lots of dishes.

You were brought up on Basmati Rice. White and brown. When you go to the store to buy rice, don’t cheap out and buy the cheapest rice out there.

Choose Basmati or Texmati rice. Basmati rice comes from India and Texmati is the same variety grown in Texas. Honestly, the cost difference isn’t much between cheap rice and a quality rice and the taste is much more pronounced. Tastes more like rice should.

Rice has become so polished and processed that most of what passes for rice these days has very little flavor or nutrients. This kind of rice provides little nutritional value beyond carbs.

Avoid instant rice at all costs. It has horrible flavor, it tastes processed.

Avoid ‘converted or par boiled ‘ rice as well.

We get enough nutrients from our diets to have to worry about the delivery of Thiamine. If we were starving, it would be another issue.

Basmati and Texmati rice is flavorful and nutritious and goes great with lots of dishes. It is not sticky rice so it will have that fall-apart quality desired in fluffy rice.

Here is the key for How to Boil Rice:

Main ratio: 2:1

2 parts water to 1 part rice

So if you use your shoe as a measure, measure two shoes of liquid and one shoe of rice. The point being what ever you measure with, use 2:1. If you use your shoe, sanitize it first.

Whatever measure you are using, make it 2:1

Measure the liquid (so you know how much rice you need), put into a pot with a tight-fitting lid.

Bring water to a boil. It’s boiling when the bubbles break the surface.

Add salt after water boils

Add salt and then rice

Return to a boil.

Then add rice; return to a boil

Stir the rice after adding it to the water to ensure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot. Put a lid on it and let it simmer.

Put a lid on it. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. If you use a glass lid, you can see what is happening while it cooks.

When it looks like this, it is probably done.
Try not to life the lid until you are SURE the rice is done. Time 15-20 minutes before peeking.

Take a large kitchen spoon and see if all liquid has been absorbed. If it has, the rice is done.

Brown and darker rice will need to cook for at least 1 hour with monitoring of the liquid to doneness; adding more liquid if necessary.

Keep your eye on it until you know how your stove works. (Does it run hot or really low on the lowest settings? Adjust your cooking accordingly. All stoves behave differently. Learn how the one you have works by observation while you cook and adjust accordingly. )

Hints to successful rice:

Do not lift the lid once it returns to a boil.

Cover and reduce the heat. Let it go until the liquid is gone.

If you do lift the lid to check, your rice will become gummy and yucky.  It’s like the curse of gummy rice. Don’t lift the lid to peek unless absolutely necessary.

Learn your stove and adjust cooking times. Start noticing how it is doing at 15 minutes cooking.

How?

  • Listen, is it crackling? (Done)
  • Is it boiling still? (Let it keep going)
  • Can you smell smoldering? (May be burnt)

This is where glass lids are really handy. You can peek without lifting the lid.

The surface of done rice will look like this:

When it looks like this, it is probably done.
Try not to life the lid until you are SURE the rice is done.

Tilt the pot to the side, use a spoon to check that the liquid has been absorbed.

If it burns on the bottom, scoop from the surface. The surface rice may not taste burnt. If it does, oh well, it is cheap. Try again tomorrow.

Figure out why it may have burned:

Burner runs hot, forgot the timer, watching TV or playing games

Remember kitchen rules! Make them habits for safety’s sake.

Most of the time when I have burned things it is because I left the room and was distracted.  Please trust kitchen rules.

Once the rice is cooked, fluff it with a fork and serve. There are so many things to serve over rice.

Comfort food! Sometimes I love just a bowl of rice with soy sauce just like this. In fact I ate this one. 😉

Sometimes when my tummy is upset, nothing makes it feel better more than a bowl of rice with a small bit of soy sauce.

Add Ins:

Enhance the rice by adding vegetables, meat, herbs and spices to the cooking liquid to flavor the rice.

My favorite is to add dried onion or vegetable soup mix or fresh thyme, garlic and shallots. Don’t be afraid to season the water the rice is cooked in. The rice will take on whatever flavor is added.

I like to finish the rice with a tablespoon of fresh butter. It really does something to the flavor that I adore.

Best way to clean pots used to cook rice:

As soon as you are done cooking rice and have removed the contents of the pot to another dish, fill the rice pot with COLD water. Let it sit for 20 minutes or so. Add a squirt of detergent if you want. It makes clean-up easier.

All the rice goop will release and rinse away and final clean-up is much easier.

To Serve and store:

Steam some broccoli and serve it over some rice.

Left over rice must be cooled and stored in the refrigerator. You can easily reheat rice in the microwave. Add a small spoon of water, cover and nuke for 30 seconds, stir and do it again. The rice should absorb the water, so don’t use too much, just a hint.

Next is how to make Tonkatsu using the standard breading procedure. (Yeah, I know you love it!)

~Can you get Tonkatsu Sauce? Check your grocery where they sell soy sauce products. It is made by Kikkoman.

Love,

Mom

Safety Rules for the Kitchen

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Dear Tyler,

Before you get cooking, there are some extremely important safety rules you MUST follow.

If you don’t, the chance for injury to yourself or property could result.

As you start cooking, make these rules part of what you do automatically.

1) Never leave the kitchen when there is a pot or pan on the stove with a burner on.

If you have to leave the kitchen, turn off the burner.

Leaving things on the stove unattended is one of the leading causes of house/apartment fires.

Find something to do in the kitchen, wash some dishes, wipe down counters or refrigerator shelves, sweep the floor etc. just stay in the kitchen while pots and pans are on the stove.

If you are heating oil, you have to stay right there with it to avoid over heating and catching fire.

To extinguish a grease fire:

Keep a box of kosher salt or a large box of baking soda handy to throw on to a grease fire. Try to cover the pan with the lid to smother the flames.

Throw the baking soda or salt onto the flames to put out the fire if you cannot cover the pan.

NEVER! Never, ever try to put out a grease fire with water! The water will spread the fire and it will ‘explode’ all over you resulting in some pretty nasty burns.

You might want to get a small fire extinguisher to keep in the kitchen, under the sink.

2) Always leave a sign on hot pots or pans to indicate it is hot.

Nothing hurts like grabbing onto a hot handle and burning the palm of your hand! Youch! (An immediate treatment for burns is ice. It cool down the burned tissues.)

A clever way of putting ice on burned finger tips

Signal the pan is hot by placing a towel on the handle or on the edge of a pan.

Leaving a clean kitchen towel on the handle or along the side of a sheet pan signals the item it hot.

You can forget when a handle or pan is hot while cooking.

Protect yourself and others from burns by using the towel signal.

3) Probably the most important of all: NEVER, ever catch a falling knife.

Jump back out-of-the-way and let it fall.

So what if it nicks the blade. You will still have your fingers.

Knives are replaceable, your fingers are not.

There will be a post on knife safety soon.

4) Keep all handles and pans so they do not hang over any edges of ranges, counters etc.

Nothing hangs over the edge, the sheet pan and the pot handle should be moved so they don’t hang over the edge.

Turn them so they cannot be accidentally tipped over.

Nothing should be hanging over an edge, turn things so they do not.

Turn items so they aren’t hanging over the edge

Use towels to grab hot handles and hot lids.
Things have been on the stove so they will probably be hot

Always assume handles will be hot and use a folded towel to grab them.

5) Do not allow electrical cords to drape across the counter or any other place.

Put electric units close to the plug.

Unplug when not in use.

This practice prevents tripping over cords and pulling hot pots over onto yourself  or others, resulting in horrible burns.

These are best practices for learning your way around the kitchen.

Kitchens can be dangerous places so please use these safety tips.

Save yourself and others the agony of burns and cuts.

I know you are First Aid trained. Make sure you keep it up.

Have a kit handy to treat simple cuts and minor burns.

Your training will be called upon eventually either for yourself or someone else.

Most important, be able to recognize when you need to seek medical attention and do not hesitate; act quickly.

Natural-path Treatment for Burns:

Whipped egg whites, applied to cover the burn, once the whites dry, apply another layer. Leave on as long as possible.

Seek medical attention if the burn is severe.

Protect the burn from exposure to air.

Never ‘pop’ a blister.

In my work teaching culinary school, I see and tend to many kitchen injuries that can easily be prevented.

Food Safety is something you need to know about too. Read this post and organize your fridge.

I will write more about food safety in another post. For now, be sure to keep all meats cold and on the bottom shelves so they don’t drip on other foods. Keep all left overs cold unless you are eating them.

Get some cellophane wrap (Saran Wrap like) and use it to cover your food in the refrigerator.

If you need to make a sign with the safety rules to post in the kitchen, print them from your computer. Safety reminders are always a good idea.

Reminders help roommates and friends remember too.

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“Dear Tyler, How to Cook” Series

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Starting tomorrow

The unit cook preparing the salad

The unit cook preparing the salad (Photo credit: Government Press Office)

Spoon Feast is beginning a series of posts on the subject of “How to Cook”.

As my son was moving into his first apartment, he asked me for a cookbook, “Couldn’t you just write one for me?”

He also wanted to share the recipes and methods with his other friends who are also in the same boat of being in their first apartments with kitchens and not knowing quite where to start or what to do.

The first posts will be about outfitting your kitchen and selecting the necessary items to get started.

A cook sautees onions and peppers.

A cook sautes onions and peppers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Then, at the beginning of each week, there will be some basic cooking skill posts and at the end of the week there will be a full menu meal that uses all the simple skills learned during the week in the meal.

The skills will be presented in a way that you will learn to cook without being recipe dependent.

Please check out the posts and let me know if there is something you would like to learn.

Step-by-step photos and an occasional video will illustrate techniques and ingredients.

You will quickly learn a good solid basic cooking foundation from which you can grow and expand with confidence.

Please join in!

The Worlds Best Olive Oil and a Give Away!

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On a weekend outing recently I had the honor to meet an inspiring , charming Greek man whose family owns olive groves in Greece.

The family produces some of the best olive oil I have ever tasted. Pure, green, fruity, this oil is unlike anything you have ever tried.

The olive tree, one of the bases of Greek agri...

The oil is extra virgin, undiluted. This means this oil is from the first cold pressing of ripe olives. The category of extra virgin olive oil is required to have an acidity of .o8%. Theros  Undiluted Extra Virgin Olive Oil is .045%.

If you are lucky, you will get a bit of the denser oil that filters to the bottom of the barrels. There is a very small amount of this because most of the oil is drained off and bottled in the clear state. Because the oil is undiluted, more of the ‘solids’ will fall to the bottom of your bottle. Shake it up if you like or save it for an ultimate treat near the end of your oil.

Theros also produces and sells unfiltered olive oil.

When we were children, we lived in Seville, Spain for a few years. My mom would slather us kids in olive oil and tell us to go play outside for a while. After we would come in, bathe and go to bed. Our skin and hair were so smooth and lovely. I remember the distinct aroma of the rich olive oil on my skin. I loved it.

When I smelled Theros oil, my memories of Spain came flooding back, the rich ripe aroma of olive oil. I wanted to slather it and go play. Amazing, we were brown as berries but we never worried about sunscreen then, and didn’t get sunburned. Mostly anyway.

The trend lately is to know where your food comes from, buying local, sustainable, etc.  I find it limiting  to say “we only use food from 100 miles of where we are.”

Why be so limited when the world has become so accessible?

Here is a way to extend the boundaries of local to include the world. In this case Greece. Who can say no to Greece?

Taken by Nick Fraser in 2005. The fruit of an ...

Taken by Nick Fraser in 2005. The fruit of an Olive Tree (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Greek economy is in pretty bad shape now. In a small way, buying olive oil helps support the families who grow and harvest the olives. In small ways, each purchase can help the Greek economy. Small yes, but it is something.

By using our purchasing power, and choosing to buy authentic Greek olive oil, authentic Greek Feta cheese, and authentic Greek Yogurt is our own small ways we can contribute positively to support Greek economy so they can begin the recovery they need as the break away from the European Union and the Euro takes place. (In my opinion, it is a matter of when, not if.)

The Italians have had such a world-wide demand on their olive oil, most of what you find in common supermarkets can no longer be trusted to be quality olive oil of any grade.

Italy exports so much olive oil the country itself is left to buy olive oil from Spain and Greece to grace their tables. If you are buying olive oil in a market in the US, chances are rare you will see

Simple meze of feta cheese and olives: charact...

Simple meze of feta cheese and olives: characteristic Greek flavours. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

olive oil from anywhere else but Italy.

However, with the olive oil awareness and a more sophisticated demand by consumers, your chances are improving that you will find other countries of origin.

A few days ago I tested this theory in my local grocery and was pleasantly surprised to find 1 brand of Greek olive oil and 1 brand of Spanish – the rest were Italian.

Greece is ranked second in the European Union for their production of olives – 147,500 tonnes in 2010. I do not know how much was pressed into varying grades of olive oil vs being brined to eat as olives.

It would be extremely interesting to take a sabbatical from work and go harvest olives in Greece, take the olives to be pressed and learn about brining olives to make them palatable. Then to France to harvest grapes.

What a fall that would be!

Give Away Time!

Theros Olive Oil has agreed to give away 6 bottles of

Theros Undiluted Extra Virgin Olive Oil

To win one here’s what you have to do:

  1. Follow Spoon Feast on WordPress
  2. Like Theros Olive oil on Face Book and check out the amazing photos of the process
  3. Leave a comment on their Facebook page about why you like olive oil and ways you use it
  4. Leave a comment on this Spoon Feast post about why you like olive oil and ways you use it

6 winners will be chosen based upon meeting all 4 criteria above.

We will choose the most creative and delicious ways you use olive oil.

Winners will be chosen by a panel of Spoon Feast advisers.

All domestic and international shipping arrangements will be made directly with Theros Olive Oil.

You will have until Friday, June 15th to participate!

Winners will be announced on Sunday, June 17th.

Treat yourself, Check out Theros Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil!

English: Olives in olive oil.

Olives in olive oil. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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