Do you have any cooking tips or tricks?
I just have the usual home cook stuff. Let’s see. Um. Giving cooking advice is always slightly controversial. For example, I do not cook our pan-seared steaks in a bath of butter. One, we don’t need the extra calories and saturated fats and especially lactose; two, steak is delicious on its own and all the aromatics in the world stuffed into that butter do not significantly alter the taste; and three, it requires two different pans because cast iron is way too hot after searing and would burn the butter and I’m too lazy to wash two pans.
::pauses for a chorus of “How dare you!” from the comments::
I stand by my statement. Don’t link videos to me about bathing steak in a pound of butter with crushed garlic and rosemary. I have tried it, and I won’t be doing it. If I want a flavored steak, I’ll either marinade it or mix my homemade teriyaki sauce and pour it on in the last 30 seconds of cooking.
Homemade teriyaki sauce:
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup mirin
- 1/3 cup brown sugar or honey
Heat everything, reduce to desired consistency. Can be cooked in advance. Just before cooking with it, I like to add crushed garlic and powdered ginger and heat it up for a few minutes to let the flavors blend.
You can also buy the Sweet Soy Sauce by Kikkoman. It does the job.
In the last 30 seconds of cooking, pour some over the steak. Flip the steak a couple of times to get the sauce to caramelize.
So, tips and tricks. Right.
Salt your steak.
Always salt your steak prior to searing. Salt both sides and let the salt sit on there for about 30-40 minutes. Salt will draw out the juices in the meat, dissolve into it, and form a brine. The brine will tenderize the meat and flavor it once reabsorbed. It will also give the steak a better sear. The sear is the result of a Maillard reaction, which requires high heat and dry surfaces. Kosher salt is best for this. On the geeky side, what we perceive as browning actually rearranges amino acids and some simple sugars into circular formations. You can find a cool chart about it at Food Chemistry.
Brine your chicken.
The other day Gordon wanted roasted chicken and potatoes. My go-to for roasted chicken is skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks. However, due to a shopping oversight, I only had boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Boneless chicken can go dry during roasting. I defrosted them in the microwave and stuck them into brine for a couple of hours. It made all the difference. The chicken thighs were moist, flavorful, and tender, and I even nuked them with the broiler toward the end because even if I cook the meat to the perfect temperature, my husband will maintain that it is undercooked unless there is a brown crust on top of it.
Basic brine recipe:
- 8 cups of water
- 8 pieces of chicken (about 3 lbs with bone in) or a single chicken cut up
- 1/4 cup of salt
- ¼ cup of sugar
- Aromatics and herbs that float your boat: bay leaf, rosemary, tarragon, fennel for basic European-savory taste, or you can mess with it and add cloves, chili, cinnamon, and nutmeg for a different take, or chili, cumin, cilantro for a South-Western spin, etc. It depends on what kind of chicken you are aiming for. I usually stick to bay leaf, coriander, and then go with whatever smells good.
Mix everything together, making sure the salt and sugar are dissolved, add chicken, refrigerate for 2 hours. Afterward, bake like normal. The chicken will release a lot of liquid during baking.
For potatoes, I cut them into pieces, tossed them with sunflower oil, salt, paprika, and some fresh dill and stuck them in the oven. Also broiled them a tiny bit before the end, so they would look brown enough.
Kale salad
Kale is good for you. Kale also has a tendency to taste like weeds. Not like soft weeds either. However, if you ever bought a prepared kale salad at store, it actually tastes decent. Kale also has the fun quality of keeping well. You can make a salad base with kale ahead of time and it will happily sit in your fridge for 3 days or so. You can take it out as needed and add perishables like tomatoes.
Get a bag of washed kale. Dump it into a large bowl. Add a splash of olive oil, preferably light-tasting, unless you really love the olive oil and want it in your salad for three days straight. I prefer sunflower oil, actually. I was raised with sunflower oil, it has a very high smoking point, and I love it, but not everyone does. Once you splashed the olive oil in, get in there with your hands, and really rub the oil into the kale. Squish it. It’s almost a kneading motion. The kale will wilt a little bit and decrease in size, but it will remain green and pretty.
I’ve looked it up and apparently the technical term is “massaging.” Massage your kale, heh.
Throw some sun-dried tomatoes in there, some slivered or sliced almonds, and other fun stuff like golden raisins or cranberries. Mix everything. Separate into containers, if you are me, or just cover the bowl and stick it in the fridge.
If you want to save time or plan on eating this as a meal, I also cook a small bag of tortellini – al dente – drain, wash to cool, allow to dry a bit, and I add that to the base.
I know most of us are conditioned to add acid to salad, but unless you are planning on eating it immediately, I would resist the urge to reach for vinegar. Acid will start breaking things down and you will get mush over time. So no vinegar at this stage, but you can add it before serving.
This salad base is edible by itself. However, it’s boring to just eat it nonstop, so that’s when we can get creative. Take out a portion of salad. Add tomatoes, shredded Parmesan, a bit of basil, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Mix. You have an Italian-inspired salad. Or add boiled egg, onion, tomatoes, and a bit of bacon. A Cobb-inspired salad. You get my drift. You can flavor it with a little bit of store-made dressing like Ranch – and you only need a small amount because the oil is already in there flavoring things. That steak we cooked earlier – if there is any of it left, you could slice that in there. Hehe.
And now it’s your turn to share cooking tips. I have to go and keep company with Curran and Kate.
Microwave your bacon. It’s a gamechanger! Put a good quality paper towel (like Bounty brand) on a plate, singer layer of bacon, another paper towel on top (don’t press down) and microwave on high for 5-7 min depending on your microwave and how crispy you want it. The original instructions I read said to flip the bacon halfway but I don’t bother and it works fine. No more splattering, smoke or pan to clean.
Microwaving bacon is like boiling beef. Yes it is cooked but it loses a lot of flavor. I find microwaved bacon similar in taste to the pre-cooked bacon you can find in the supermarket. You just can’t beat pan frying bacon.
Microwaved bacon made with a covered bacon rack (not paper towels) has a 3rd of the fat of bacon cooked in oven or pan. It isn’t as yummy, no, although I think the difference is more texture than taste, but it is quick, you don’t have to monitor it and it is easy to clean up . And again, much lower in fat and calories. If you ever have your gallbladder removed, you will bless microwaved bacon.
Note: calorie info is from university hospital systems dietitians- ie this is actually reputable info.
You haven’t had an amazing steak until you’ve had one Sous Vide. Season your steak. Vacuum seal it. Get a large pot of water and put an Immersion circulator in it and set it to 130F. When it comes to temp, put your steak in there and let it cook for 90-120 min or so. Your steak is now perfectly cooked at medium rare. Heat up your cast iron pan and sear all four sides until brown. You’ve never had a more tender steak. This also works amazingly for thick cut boneless pork chops.
Im Australian, so our hot tip down here is: fusion food. Be it; italian, greek, middle east or asian, everything has a fresh Australian produce swing added to it.
Plus everything needs that sweet sour balance to get a great flavour balance (eg wine/onions, fish sauce/palm sugar etc)
A ‘Whatever I Have In The Fridge’ European Fusion Stew
(in my Dutch Cast Iron Oven):
Sauted til almost overcooked brown onions.
Diced veg mix of your choice
(My current fridge options): Broccci stalks, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, pumpkin, turnip.
Red kidney beans
Black beans
(all the above are the tinned pre-soaked version, because Im lazy)
Red wine (and a little extra for me, lol)
Meat of choice (i have boned chicken thighs in the fridge today)
Tomato paste
Diced tomatos
Stock (i have chicken), enough to cover it all
Bring to the boil on the stove top, then chuck in a 170 degree celsius oven for 1 hr or when the veg is cooked but it is still runny.
Then add a grain of choice over the top: pearl barly, brown rice, pearl couscous, quinoa etc into the pot and chuck it back in the oven until it has soaked up the excess stock and become a yummo base and has a crispy top but isn’t a dry husk…and obviously cooked through. lol
Serve bed of fresh baby spinach leaves (Yes, that is right America, we eat our salad WITH our food)
Enjoy xx
Vic (Melbourne Australia)
Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the post.
I agree with you on steak. Butter is for mashed potatoes not for steak. Although I no longer eat white potatoes but sweet potatoes so no butter. Sigh. Makes my GP doctor happy. However my sugar loving nephew (I tease him about tea flavoring in his sugar water) loves butter with liberal amounts of fake maple syrup on waffles which is a no no for me too. Sigh.
Re kale. I like it but then I also like brussel sprouts. ????. And green tea. ????
Game changer for cilantro and parsley: use a fork to remove the leaves. This works best when the herbs are in a bunch. Place the herbs on a cutting board. Hold the ends in a bunch with one hand. With the other hand, use the tines of a fork to scrape the leaves away from ends. Spaghetti squash—to avoid the hard task of slicing the raw squash in half, poke a few holes in a raw squash (I use a metal skewer) and microwave it on high until soft, which can take 8-15 minutes, depending on the size of the squash. Then cut in half and remove the seeds before using a fork to separate the strands.
When you said massage kale I thought massage Kale. I wonder who would name A kid Kale.
Hi, late to the party but couldn’t resist because I have to disagree! Steak cooked with butter is perfect. BUT, you only need a tablespoon in the pan to sear in the yumminess. I also want to agree about salting your meat but my (not so) secret trick is GARLIC salt! It really adds to the flavor. It goes great on all meat, and veggies too.
I’ll share one of my family’s favorite of my own recipes for salmon filet. I get a salmon filet (my kids love this so I get the biggest one that still fits on my broiler pan) with the skin. On the skin side rub with olive oil. Flip it over and rub in a layer of olive oil, then lemon juice, then cream sherry (I know, trust me). You want all the liquids to sort of smoosh together, hence the rubbing, otherwise they just run off the fish. Don’t be afraid to add more lemon juice and sherry, don’t go lite. Then sprinkle with a little kosher salt and a lot of dry dill, rub it in. Let that sit while you heat your broiler to high, prep your sides, etc. You’ll want the fish close to the flame when its cooking so adjust the rack accordingly. To cook, flip the filet skin side up and broil til the skin gets crispy and bubbles (the fish oils soak down into the meat and keeps it moist). Now, flip the filet carefully and stick back under the broiler until the top is browned/caramelized. You’re done, enjoy. Best Salmon Ever, I promise.
Addendum: you can use any oil you like, we just like olive oil a lot here. 🙂
Air fry your steak. Yes, air fry! If you have an air fryer it is a must. You get the most delicious crispy crust I can never go back to pan fry. You don’t even need any oil or butter only salt and pop her in on the highest setting for however long you like your steak done!
Baking powder and salt rub for super crispy roast chicken or chicken wings.
Baked Chicken
Prep:10 mins
Cook:40 mins
Active:15 mins
Resting Time:8 hrs
Total:8 hrs 50 mins
Serves:2 people
Ingredients
• 2 pounds (900g) chicken wings, cut into drumettes and flats
• 2 teaspoons (10g) baking powder
• 2 teaspoons (10g) kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume or the same weight
• 4 tablespoons (50g) unsalted butter
1. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set a wire rack inside. Carefully dry chicken wings with paper towels. In a large bowl, combine wings with baking powder and salt and toss until thoroughly and evenly coated. Place on rack, leaving a slight space between each wing. Repeat with remaining 2 batches of wings.
2. Place baking sheet with wings in refrigerator and allow to rest, uncovered, at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.
3. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat oven to 450°F (230°C). Add chicken wings and cook for 20 minutes. Flip wings and continue to cook until crisp and golden brown, 15 to 30 minutes longer, flipping a few more times towards the end.
4. Transfer wings to a large bowl, add butter, and toss to thoroughly coat.
BTW, Ilona’s Mississippi Roast is my family’s new favorite.
You go with your controversial self! You are correct on all counts!!!
my favorite cooking tip – you can use a rice cooker for full meals.
My current favorite is to blitz baby carrots (or full size, I just only keep baby carrots in the house), onion, garlic, and ginger in the food processor, then saute in a neutral oil + toasted sesame oil. At the last second I stir in a spoonful of chicken base. Load in the rice bowl with 2 cups rinsed rice, the correct amount of water, the aromatics you just sauteed, and then top with 5-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into quarters. This is a meal for 4, cut it down to appropriate amounts for your family unit. Works wonderfully for just one person too. If you have a fancy machine, set it to “mixed” and if you have a plain jane just set it to cook.
My other tip – if you like potato soup, try adding capers and avocado to your bowl of soup.
My new potato salad recipe (still a work in progress):
I cut down on the work of making potato salad by boiling chunked up potatoes and eggs together from cold. When the potato is tender the eggs are cooked, they need to drain and cool for a while
I also make mayonnaise (standard egg yolk, dijon, lemon juice and neutral oil and lost of pepper) in a big bowl and then drain and chill in the fridge
I cut up dill pickled gherkins and then fish out a lot of the pickling detritus (dill, garlic etc) and chop that extra fine.
I peel and and slice the hard boiled eggs
I add everything to the bowl of mayonnaise with a healthy dollop of whole grain mustard, mix and then I have a really nice potato salad
Korean Gochujang can literally go into anything. I have had to start making vegetarian and vegan family style meals and gojuchang and miso have made my life so much easier.
Steak: highly recommend reverse searing. If only once. HEAVILY salt and pepper (more than you think. Thick meat = less surface area to carry necessary salt), get it up to the right internal temperature for your preferred doneness in a slow oven, then do a very quick sear in a hot pan or grill to get the caramelization. It seems backwards but I have yet to have a better and juicier steak.
I once had a roommate who cooked his hamburger in butter! I threw a polite fit because a.) butter = expensive. b.) a decent hamburger should have enough fat to fry itself. (No, I don’t buy extra lean. Why spend the extra money, then add fat for frying?) Just incidentally, that person later had liposuction surgery as life-saving emergency medicine for his bones and blood pressure. What I might do is fry a nice piece of fatty bacon first. It adds flavor, and you have the bacon grease and bit of bacon for flavoring cooked beans. Don’t add until the beans are cooked to tenderness. Never add anything salty to beans until they are properly done. I’m not much of a cook…but there’s my cooking advice for the day.
Hmmm. Kale. I love the stuff, especially the curly, gray kind. But I currently have red-veined Russian kale coming up in the garden. Baby kale is so sweet and tender! Grow your own if you can. You’ll never go back to eating the store-bought kale.
Meanwhile, I’m over here eating meat drenched in BUTTER and losing weight….
Brine! Is also really good for those thick pork chops. I brine them then dry them, season and my husband puts them on the grill. Usually doing a pork brine I use half apple juice for the liquid. I can’t remember the last time we cooked a steak in the house usually it goes on the grill too.
Living in the Bay Area we can almost grill year round and ever since my husband got his smoker we sometimes use it in bad weather.
A couple things I have been trying to do more is to write on my recipes any changes that I make. Plus I started a recipe album on my phone for when my family have asked me to send them a copy. I now can find them when they ask for them again.
Steak: Inch-thick. Make sure it’s sat out, don’t cook straight from fridge. Heat grapeseed oil in cast iron pan until it starts to shimmer (I actually use a comal, don’t have a skillet). Salt the steak and drop it in. Slightly reduce heat, don’t touch for 6 minutes. Remove with tongs – no fork! – and raise temp to heat the oil again. Drop steak in on other side for 3 minutes. Medium-rare.
“Kale has a tendency to taste like weeds.” Omg I hated that kale became such a huge superfood around 2013-2015. I feel like a few years you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing about stupid kale, a leafy green I had never even heard of until my early twenties. I don’t care if it’s the healthiest thing since sliced bread, it tastes awful and is VERY overrated. I only eat it if it’s mixed in soups or mixed in risottos or other dishes where it isn’t the main ingredient. You can’t trick me into eating it in a salad, it’s not going to happen.
Fun article! I don’t cook steaks so I have no opinion on the right way to cook one but I’m sure people have Many Opinions.
hi
Amazingly enough pintrest has some very tastey recipes.
one I think is Honey bourbon steak
only butter is in the pan .
sounds similar to your recipe.
yours sounds delicious too. What type of meat (steak) do u use thou?
I also live in Texas. With summer approaching, I am glad I found the no-churn ice cream recipes from Cooks Country. You make it in a blender, then freeze it. Easy Peasy. They are so good. You can check out the Cooks Country cookbook from the library to get the recipe. Or if you want I can send a .pdf of the page.
When cooking rice add dried tangerine peels cut into slices, ginger pieces, and use chicken broth instead of water. This will go well with most dishes.
By accident, I found that marinating meat for longer a period of time is good (2 to 3 days). I have a wonderful Greek Chicken marinade:
9 cloves minced garlic
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
9 tablespoons which equals 1/2 cup of lemon juice 3 tablespoons Olive oil 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
4 and 1/2 tablespoons dried a oregano
3 tsp salt black pepper to taste
Why not? It’s my blog, so I post whatever I want.