food prep – ANIMAL-FREE SOUS-CHEF™

The Perversion Of Food

The Perversity Of Food What’s your lean? Where’s your marble? Why does it always have to be Chicken Parmesan? All you can do is copy? Where’s your imagination? Somebody locked you into their culinary demands that never can be changed? What is this all about? Prey or pray tell? Mamma or government. Spread your culinaryContinue reading “The Perversion Of Food”

Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential

I’m not trying to increase book sales of a dead person, but everyone who eats and drinks out should read Anthony Bourdain’s KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL.

SKINNING ALMONDS

SKINNING ALMONDS Almonds are hard nuts. Even while chewing they seem to never soften up. Do a parboil, a soak, then a peel for extra eye-appeal and they might just change your mind! Makes 4 cups almonds after soaking

Discoloration Prevention

This is an easy one. Tired of seeing your apple cubes and banana slices turn brown right before your eyes, before you’ve hardly finished cutting them? Here’s a solution that works. Combine the juice of 1-2 oranges (fresh) in bowl with a strong sprinkling of turmeric. Stir to dissolve. Then as you cut the fruit,Continue reading “Discoloration Prevention”

PICKLED GINGER STICKS

Ever buy a big piece of ginger, use part of it, refrigerate the rest, then not get back to it till it’s moldy? Yeah, me too. Ginger molds quickly. Being that it’s not readily available in all markets, when I do get some fresh ginger this is what I now do with the leftover. MakeContinue reading “PICKLED GINGER STICKS”

STAGES OF CARAMELIZING ONION

There are several ways to saute onions – resulting in different degrees of caramelization. The first is to fry the onion in oil and/or margarine till translucent, over medium-low heat. The onion still has firmness and is essentially a stir-fried onion, like the Chinese do. I often say in a recipe to fry till translucent,Continue reading “STAGES OF CARAMELIZING ONION”

CARAMELIZED WALNUTS

CARAMELIZED WALNUTS Easy and delicious! Walnuts, extra virgin olive oil, water, brown sugar and baking soda, cooked till caramelized and cooled till crispy! Great for topping salads or side dishes! Makes enough to top 4 salads, or side dishes 1/2 c. walnut halves or pieces 1-2 T. extra virgin olive oil 2 T. water 1/4Continue reading “CARAMELIZED WALNUTS”

TOASTING SESAME SEEDS

Toasting sesame seeds is much like toasting coconut. It doesn’t take long. Place sesame seeds in dry skillet, without overlapping much. Turn heat to low. Watch carefully for the first signs of browning, then shake skillet till most are lightly browned and the nut aroma in the air is prominent. Remove skillet immediately from heatContinue reading “TOASTING SESAME SEEDS”

SEEDING FRESH TOMATOES

Seeding a tomato actually means removing the seeds with the pulp, leaving the skin and the fleshy part attached to the skin. In other words, you don’t have to pick through the pulp to remove the seeds. The pulp goes out with the seeds. Seeding tomatoes is easy to do once you do it. NoContinue reading “SEEDING FRESH TOMATOES”