Рецепт Tips for a Happier Kitchen - A Non-rant
Tips for a Happier Kitchen – A Non-rant
June 18, 2013 at 7:32 am
Here are a couple of easy tips that will make your kitchen experience a much happier time. These should be done on a regular basis, at least quarterly and will take only a few minutes to accomplish.
Proper care of your pots and pans will ensure long life and many great meals. Non-stick surfaces require occasional attention. When food that normally slides right out of these pans starts to stick it is time to “season” them. This simply involves taking a paper towel with vegetable oil or olive oil and rubbing it into the cooking surface. If the outside of the pan is looking a little dry, rub the oil onto that as well. I am talking a very thin amount here, just enough to return the shine to the surface. Now put the pans into a 200 degree oven for a couple of hours, this will re- seal the surface and bring the pan back to its fully functional self. Wipe any excess oil off with a dry paper towel, they should look shiny but not slippery. You should do this every 3 months or so, depending on how much you use the pan.
We need to talk. Many of you have one knife you use for everything, you know who you are. There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing favorites with your knives but you should have a few that you can use for different purposes. I am not advocating that you go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a knife set at your local cooking shop; only that you get a good chef’s knife for slicing meat, a serrated one for bread and then a small one for cutting veggies . You can pick these up at a tj Maxx, or discount store for a few dollars each. The main difference between really good knives and less expensive knives is the quality of the blade. This translates into how long the blade will hold its edge. Keep your knife sharp at all times and you probably won’t know that you paid $8 for it. Even the best knives need to be sharpened on a regular basis. So pick up some sort of knife sharpener while you are at it.
A sharp knife should glide through whatever you are cutting. If you are having to increase the pressure you are putting on the knife it probably is time to sharpen it. You don’t have to go crazy buying the top of the line sharpener either. Sharpening a knife is simply the process of dragging the blade at a small angle across an abrasive surface; about 17 degrees. You can buy sharpeners that help you hold the knife at the proper angle or you can do this simply by paying attention to what you are doing. Three to five times on each side of the knife is enough to get a good edge on the blade. Okay, what about that long, round thing you see the chefs use? This is a steel and it is used on a regular, daily basis to re-align the edge of the blade; you can buy one of these but you will find that you probably will go right to the knife sharpener and the steel will sit in the drawer.
Now that you have suffered through this long post; here is your reward, a quick and easy appetizer using your now seasoned pan and your newly sharpened knife.
Pan-seared Tuna
Recipe Summary
Complexity:
Easy
Serves:
4
Category:
Appetizer
Meal:
other (General)
8
oz
tuna, fresh
1
Tb
oil, olive
0.5
- tsp
- salt, kosher
- 1
- tsp
- pepper, fresh cracked
Have tuna at room temperature. Heat a heavy sauté pan as hot as you can get it. Spread oil over tuna, sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. Sear both sides of tuna in pan, cook only for a minute or so per side to get the outside seared and the inside remains rare. Slice as thinly as you can and serve.
Follow these simply steps to make your cooking experience easier. Now that you have your kitchen in shape try some of our great recipes at emealsforyou.com.
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Entry filed under: Appetizer, Rants, Semi-Rants and Non-Rants, Tips.Techniques and Ideas. Tags: adjusting oven temps, checking oven temps, cooking made easy, kitchen tips, knife sharpeners, knives, oven temps, ovens, pans, seasoning pans, sharpener, sharpening knives.