Now, really, this is the time to confront your scaredy-cat self. Using fresh garlic is NOT hard. In fact, it can be the easiest thing to teach your little one about cooking in the kitchen. Peeling garlic should be one of the first jobs your kids or grandkids do for you in the kitchen....because, truthfully, they're good at it and you don't really want to do it if THEY can! :)
Have a trash bowl on your counter surface, next to the cutting board(thank you, Rachel Ray). You will use it the whole time you're prepping the meal, and it's great to have it RIGHT THERE where you are chopping, opening cans, cleaning meat, snapping beans, etc. Separate the head by slicing through it with a big knife, or prying it apart by brute force.
Using the side of a very wide, big knife(I have a great cleaver I use exclusively for all chopping) press down HARD on a clove or two of garlic at a time, until you hear and feel a "POP." This is very satisfying if you are frustrated or in a mood to kill something. Since your husband is probably the one killing the meat around your house, this is your chance to be rough with the food. Repeat until every clove has been whacked!
Crushing the individual cloves will make them literally FALL out of their respective, crackly skins. This is the part the kids love. Give them a clean little prep bowl for their freshly-peeled garlic, or just point a spot out to them on the cutting board for their peeled pile.
Use a garlic press to add garlic to your recipe without too much fuss and trouble; remember, with garlic, more is better!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Cooking rice
When I married the most wonderful man in the whole world, I didn't own a rice cooker. As the oldest child of a large family, that is the only way I knew how to "cook" rice. My husband, on the other hand, could make a killer pot of rice with very little effort.
This is the trick.
If you think you have a good idea of how much rice you need, dump it in your pot. A good estimate is 2 cups for about 3-4 generous servings, and 4 cups when you have 5-6 people or want leftovers. Truthfully, I don't measure anymore.
Fill your pot(which has the rice in it) with water til the water covers the rice THIS high.
THIS: stick your middle finger into the water until the tip rests on the top of the rice. The water should cover the first segment of your middle finger, from tip to first joint(just about an inch). It doesn't matter if you have long, slender fingers or banjo hands--this trick works for everyone. Turn the burner onto high, if you're in a hurry like me, and bring to a boil. Turn down a little bit and simmer until holes appear on the surface of the rice, like crawfish burrowing in for the winter. Depending on how much rice you're preparing, add 1-2 TBsp butter to the pot. You will hardly see any water by this time. Turn the burner off, but leave the pot there and cover with a lid. It will be ready to serve in 5-10 minutes or longer, if you've made it during the kids' naptime and want feel like you've made something for supper already!
This is the trick.
If you think you have a good idea of how much rice you need, dump it in your pot. A good estimate is 2 cups for about 3-4 generous servings, and 4 cups when you have 5-6 people or want leftovers. Truthfully, I don't measure anymore.
Fill your pot(which has the rice in it) with water til the water covers the rice THIS high.
THIS: stick your middle finger into the water until the tip rests on the top of the rice. The water should cover the first segment of your middle finger, from tip to first joint(just about an inch). It doesn't matter if you have long, slender fingers or banjo hands--this trick works for everyone. Turn the burner onto high, if you're in a hurry like me, and bring to a boil. Turn down a little bit and simmer until holes appear on the surface of the rice, like crawfish burrowing in for the winter. Depending on how much rice you're preparing, add 1-2 TBsp butter to the pot. You will hardly see any water by this time. Turn the burner off, but leave the pot there and cover with a lid. It will be ready to serve in 5-10 minutes or longer, if you've made it during the kids' naptime and want feel like you've made something for supper already!
Cuban Food...short cuts
So, if you're in the mood to dish up your ground beef in a new and tasty way(yes, your family will eat this!), try this easy recipe I learned from my cousin. I may be forgetting a couple things...but a couple of years ago, when she showed me, this is what I came away with, and I've been making it faithfully for a couple of years. It's a great way to feed company when you're on a budget, too! :) Showing love to friends and family by feeding them is essential; spending a fortune is not.
And no, I am not claiming that this is AUTHENTIC Cuban. If you are Cuban, or have family or friends who are, be assured I would LOVE a personal cooking lesson to hone my skills! Come on over and teach me!
Piccadillo
1 medium onion, minced
1 sm. head of garlic, minced(yes, fresh. It's better, I promise!)
1 small green bellpepper, chopped
1 lb. ground beef(or bison)
1 lg.(family)can mild Rotel,DRAINED, or 1 can chopped tomatoes + 1 sm. can chopped gr. chilis or2 C. fresh-grown chopped garden tomatoes and 1/3 cup green chilies
2 cans tomato sauce
about 1 cup green manzanilla pimento-stuffed olives
rice
Saute the first 3 ingredients in an enameled Dutch oven, or stainless pot or wok.
When onions are almost clear, add ground meat and continue stirring until meat is just barely cooked(break up into smaller pieces).
Add Rotel, or whatever combo of tomatoes and chilies you are using, as well as the tomato sauce. If you'd rather substitute a can of tomato paste for one of the sauces, that works too--just be attentive to your sauce and don't let it burn!
SIMMER for about 15-30 minutes, or longer. You can make it a crock pot meal at this point, or any point after you saute the first three ingredients.
When company arrives, or you just can't take it anymore, season well with Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoned salt(if you're 'cadienne you'll say "tony's" and everyone will know what you're talking about). You can buy it at WalMart, no matter where you live.
If you like, you can add additional sea salt and pepper(if it's not freshly ground black pepper, it'll be underwhelming...maybe you should forget about it, then!).
Add green olives at the last minute, to warm slightly. If you leave them in the whole time, their wonderful texture will be wrecked. Just don't do it. I usually only add what I'll need to serve the diners for that meal, so that I can warm the leftovers the next day and add nice, firm olives to that batch when I need them. This recipe=excellent leftovers. Your husband will BEG to be the one to eat them. They improve with time...and the tomatoes preserve this dish quite well. It is refrigerator-stable for several days, with proper handling(if it lasts that long!).
Serve on the side of(yes, on the side of) Moros y Christianos.
Moros y Christianos
Take out some dry black beans. Yes, dry. They're cheaper and healthier for your family, since you control how much salt is added and they're free of all the other scary stuff you don't care for. They taste good too, and isn't that why we're cooking, anyway?
Soak overnight, with a little bit of acid(apple cider vinegar or red wine).
Drain, and cook on med. heat for 4-6 hours in water. No precise measurements here, just don't let them boil dry. And for heaven's sake, please cook your beans with a fat and an acid.
I use red wine and coconut oil+butter for my black beans. IF you don't have time/forget to soak your beans, throw them on anyway, in the morning in the crock pot on high or in the afternoon on the stove top on high(be warned, you need to keep an eye on them when you rush 'em!).
You absolutely should throw a whole head of fresh garlic in there, minced, for the entire cook time if possible. It is a good rule to follow that you should NEVER salt your vegetables until the end of their cook time, because it toughens them. This especially is true of beans...and as far as any flavor is concerned, you may depend on the wine, butter, and garlic to provide delicious flavor and creamy, perfect texture. No gritty, tough, chewy beans will rest in your pot when it's time for supper!
Serve these wonderful black beans, seasoned to taste at the end of course, over a fragrant bed of rice. I prefer jasmine or basmati rice, because they have delicious aromas while cooking and are versatile accompaniments to many different ethnic cuisines. Also, they're easy to cook and yummy! See my post on rice cooking if you need help cooking the perfect pot....
And no, I am not claiming that this is AUTHENTIC Cuban. If you are Cuban, or have family or friends who are, be assured I would LOVE a personal cooking lesson to hone my skills! Come on over and teach me!
Piccadillo
1 medium onion, minced
1 sm. head of garlic, minced(yes, fresh. It's better, I promise!)
1 small green bellpepper, chopped
1 lb. ground beef(or bison)
1 lg.(family)can mild Rotel,DRAINED, or 1 can chopped tomatoes + 1 sm. can chopped gr. chilis or2 C. fresh-grown chopped garden tomatoes and 1/3 cup green chilies
2 cans tomato sauce
about 1 cup green manzanilla pimento-stuffed olives
rice
Saute the first 3 ingredients in an enameled Dutch oven, or stainless pot or wok.
When onions are almost clear, add ground meat and continue stirring until meat is just barely cooked(break up into smaller pieces).
Add Rotel, or whatever combo of tomatoes and chilies you are using, as well as the tomato sauce. If you'd rather substitute a can of tomato paste for one of the sauces, that works too--just be attentive to your sauce and don't let it burn!
SIMMER for about 15-30 minutes, or longer. You can make it a crock pot meal at this point, or any point after you saute the first three ingredients.
When company arrives, or you just can't take it anymore, season well with Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoned salt(if you're 'cadienne you'll say "tony's" and everyone will know what you're talking about). You can buy it at WalMart, no matter where you live.
If you like, you can add additional sea salt and pepper(if it's not freshly ground black pepper, it'll be underwhelming...maybe you should forget about it, then!).
Add green olives at the last minute, to warm slightly. If you leave them in the whole time, their wonderful texture will be wrecked. Just don't do it. I usually only add what I'll need to serve the diners for that meal, so that I can warm the leftovers the next day and add nice, firm olives to that batch when I need them. This recipe=excellent leftovers. Your husband will BEG to be the one to eat them. They improve with time...and the tomatoes preserve this dish quite well. It is refrigerator-stable for several days, with proper handling(if it lasts that long!).
Serve on the side of(yes, on the side of) Moros y Christianos.
Moros y Christianos
Take out some dry black beans. Yes, dry. They're cheaper and healthier for your family, since you control how much salt is added and they're free of all the other scary stuff you don't care for. They taste good too, and isn't that why we're cooking, anyway?
Soak overnight, with a little bit of acid(apple cider vinegar or red wine).
Drain, and cook on med. heat for 4-6 hours in water. No precise measurements here, just don't let them boil dry. And for heaven's sake, please cook your beans with a fat and an acid.
I use red wine and coconut oil+butter for my black beans. IF you don't have time/forget to soak your beans, throw them on anyway, in the morning in the crock pot on high or in the afternoon on the stove top on high(be warned, you need to keep an eye on them when you rush 'em!).
You absolutely should throw a whole head of fresh garlic in there, minced, for the entire cook time if possible. It is a good rule to follow that you should NEVER salt your vegetables until the end of their cook time, because it toughens them. This especially is true of beans...and as far as any flavor is concerned, you may depend on the wine, butter, and garlic to provide delicious flavor and creamy, perfect texture. No gritty, tough, chewy beans will rest in your pot when it's time for supper!
Serve these wonderful black beans, seasoned to taste at the end of course, over a fragrant bed of rice. I prefer jasmine or basmati rice, because they have delicious aromas while cooking and are versatile accompaniments to many different ethnic cuisines. Also, they're easy to cook and yummy! See my post on rice cooking if you need help cooking the perfect pot....
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)