cooking class

Last night I taught part of a Help! What's for dinner? class for our relief society. I talked about what are some things to keep in the pantry as basics and I talked about and demoed some cooking tips. They seemed to really enjoy it and I got good comments. They said I was well prepared and even asked some questions that I was able to answer. They also loked that spiral book I got a long time ago when grocery shopping with mom that goes through all the kinds of produce, when they are in season, how to pick and store and use them. Here are the cooking tips I had to Give them.

When cooking mushrooms dont crowd the pan or they will steam each other

Pat meats dry to get a good sear in the pan

brown foods taste good, browning develops flavor

Tap the knife into the seed of the avocado and twist to remove. dice while still in skin

Clean pomegranates in a large bowl of water

thicken soups, gravies or sauces with a roux or cornstarch slurry

salt pasta water, and cook in as much water as possible

do not rinse pasta so the sauce will stick, pasta water can be added to sauces for flavor and to thin it slightly

dice vegetables to a uniform size so they will cook evenly

when zesting do not go down to the whitish pith, its bitter and you only wan the colored part with the oils

Breading things goes- flour - eggwash/buttermilk - breadcrumbs/panko/seasoned flour - fry

remove the skin off ginger with a metal spoon- greatly helps nausea

place arrugla and chopped leeks in a large bowl or sink of water, they are grown in sand and are full of it, this prevents sandy, gritty food

Buy produce in season it is cheaper and more nutritious

have 2 cutting boards 1 for produce and 1 for raw meats or cover the cutting board in wax paper when cutting meat to avoid cross contamination and food poisoning

except hothouse or english cucumbers peel before serving, they are coated in and edible wax to prevent water loss

Store tomatoes on the counter, the cold kills their flavor