A few of my favorite egg hacks!

I was making tuna salad today, and it occurred to me that I hadn't shared a few of my favorite egg hacks with you!  These hacks came about out of necessity, as we made tuna salad daily at the cafe, as well as egg salad and other special salads that contained eggs.  Peeling and chopping the eggs for those salads was messy and time-consuming, and as the years passed, I came up with some shortcuts that made this work easier, faster, and less messy.

First and foremost the eggs need to be cooked and cooled enough to handle.  Here is my simple formula for perfect hard boiled eggs:

Place the eggs in a generously sized pot (don't over-crowd the eggs) and cover them with water, with at least one inch over the tops of the eggs.  Set the pot over high heat and bring to a boil.  Boil for one minute.  Remove from the heat and cover.  The eggs bathe in the hot water for:             

• Small eggs-9 minutes                              
• Medium eggs-10 minutes
• Large eggs-11 minutes                             
• X-Large-12 minutes
• Jumbo eggs-13 minutes

While the eggs finish cooking, prepare an ice bath in a bowl large enough to accommodate the eggs, water to cover, and plenty of ice.  Remove the eggs immediately when the cooking time is up (set a timer!). Using a spider or slotted spoon, remove the eggs from the pot and place in the ice bath.  Let the eggs cool.

To peel, remove the eggs from the water, tap both ends on the counter to crack the shell, then roll the egg on the counter to break up the shell.  Dip the egg back into the water, allow the water to flow between the shell and the egg, making your job easier!  Peel the egg, dipping into the water as needed to slip off the shell.  Place the peeled eggs on a kitchen or paper towel to drain.

One day while preparing egg salad at the cafe, I looked at my food processor that I had just used to grate cheese and thought that just might be a great way to prep the eggs!  I tried it, and oh boy, did it ever work.  It's easy to use a hand grater for just a few eggs.  I find that the eggs combine so much better with other ingredients, and never again do pieces of egg fall out of a sandwich while being eaten!  Egg salad prepared this way is easy to spread, but not totally smooth, which I like.  When added to other mixtures the eggs blend in beautifully.  And it is so much faster!   

So next time you want to whip up a dish with chopped hard boiled eggs, give this method a try.  I think you'll love it!

USDA Guide to Seasonal Produce in the United States

Seasonal cooking is not a new trend, it has been a necessity since the beginning of time!  I have been thinking lately about what it would have been like 200 years ago to have to cook and "put up" food here in the Midwest without electricity, refrigeration, or supermarkets.  I started thinking about how fortunate we are now; a lemon, lime, or avocado would never have been a part of our diets then.  I continued to ponder what I would cook seasonally with only products that could be grown in the Midwest.  The conclusion I came to is that I should be filled with gratitude every day for modern kitchens, conveniences, and sources of endless varieties of foods.  I do believe our ancestors would view all that we have now as culinary heaven!  (Be forewarned, my curiosity is far from sated on this topic, as I continue to think about a "Midwest-only" seasonally-driven menu, and what it would look like.)

Though we are able to purchase just about anything year-round at a supermarket, in-season, locally sourced food is always best.  I use the USDA's guide to seasonal produce (for the entire US), to help me remember what will be in season, and when, to plan seasonal menus and recipes.  It occurred to me that it would be a good resource to share!  It is useful for jogging the memory and to be reminded of the less-used produce we tend to forget about. 

Below is a link to this most useful guide. Each fruit or vegetable has a clickable link for more detailed information.  I hope you'll take advantage of this handy guide, and cook seasonally!

USDA Seasonal Produce Guide

Creating a Great Environment for Yeast Dough to Rise

Beautifully risen yeast dough

I have tried many ways to coax yeast dough to rise beautifully in the least amount of time.  One trick was to put the bowl of dough in the microwave after heating a cup of water, leaving the cup in the corner of the microwave.  Maybe if the bowl is small (mine never is!) and you don't need to use that appliance for an hour or two.  Nix that one.  I've heated the oven for a bit, then turned it off.  That works, but on one occasion the oven and rack got a little too hot and killed the yeast, and at other times the oven cooled down before the dough was completely risen.  I keep my house cool, so just leaving it on the counter means a long rise time.  What to do?

While baking bread that required steam to create a crisp crust (No-Knead Country White Bread) I placed a skillet in the oven and added boiling water to create the steam effect.  Of course, the oven was hot in order to bake the bread, but it dawned on me that I could introduce gentle heat to the oven with boiling water to create gentle warmth for a yeast dough to rise in, just like in professional dough proofers. (Why that never occurred to me before escapes me. Seriously?!) 

So, after mixing up the next batch of dough, I placed a skillet in the bottom of the oven and filled it up half-way with boiling water.  In went the covered dough on the rack above, right over the skillet, and the timer was set for an hour.  And, it worked great!  The oven stayed warm and humid for the hour, and the dough obviously loved its environment, rising beautifully.  It also works well for the second rise, after the bread or rolls are shaped.  Finally, a method that worked without too much extra effort!  This is now my go-to technique.

Try this trick the next time you're baking bread, rolls, or making pizza dough.  I think you're going to love it!

Cooks need measuring spoons, and not a few!

Busy kitchens need lots of measuring spoons.  Here are my thoughts on that subject.

Salad spinners-not just for lettuce!

Herbs & spinach clean, dry and ready to make pesto!

There are a few tools that I consider indispensable in the kitchen, and a salad spinner is definitely one of them!  It is, of course, the best way to quickly dry lettuce and salad greens for serving or storage; a cardinal rule of green salad preparation is the greens must be cold and dry, and storing greens and lettuces that are wet will cause them to quickly deteriorate. But my trusty salad spinner (this one holds about one gallon of product, a miniature compared to the 5-gallon version that was used at the cafe!) does so much more.  Here are a few new ways to utilize your salad spinner.

Clean and dry mushrooms.  Some mushroom are so dirty that a wipe with a paper towel or brush is simply not enough.  A problem, because mushrooms absorb liquid, making washing them a challenge.  My solution?  Cover the bottom of the spinner's basket with mushrooms, then spray them with water, shaking the basket to get to all sides of the mushrooms, until the dirt is removed.  Place the basket in the spinner and spin until the excess water is removed.  Repeat as needed until all of the mushrooms are clean and dry.  Clean the mushrooms right before using, and do not clean more than will be needed. 

Remove moisture from shredded potatoes.  Latkes and hash browns are family favorites, and frozen shredded potatoes just can't compare to those "made from scratch", which means shredding and removing the liquid before preparing.  I had always used towels to squeeze the potatoes dry after shredding, which is messy, to say the least.  One day I spied my salad spinner on the counter as I was shredding some potatoes and wondered how it would work to spin them instead of squeeze them.  It works!  And, if you want to save the potato water for anything, it is waiting in the spinner.  Who knew?

Herbs for storing.  One of the best practices to keep herbs fresh and dry in the refrigerator is to wash and spin them dry as soon as you get them home from the market.  Trim the stems if you like after removing them from their container, then place them in the salad spinner.  Fill the spinner with cold water to cover by a few inches, and swish and wash them (add produce cleaner to the water if you use it.).  Lift the basket with the herbs from the spinner and empty out the water.  Return the herbs to the spinner and spin until dry.  (I rearrange the herbs once or twice between spins for maximum moisture removal.) Next, I lay out a length of paper towels (about 4 sheets) to spread the herbs out on.  After I spread the herbs evenly over the towels, I place a second length of paper towels over the top of the herbs and then roll up the herbs and paper towels loosely and place in a one-gallon plastic storage or freezer bag.  This works for parsley, cilantro, and similar herbs.  Basil is one herb that should be prepped right before using, without spinning, or it will turn black.  Having herbs clean, dry, and ready to use in the 'fridge is a real time saver!

Seeding tomatoes.  Seeding a few tomatoes is no big deal, but if several pounds are needed, a shortcut is most welcome!  Core, peel (if desired), and dice tomatoes then place them in the spinner and spin until the seeds are freed and removed.  Great when making salsa!

As you can see, a salad spinner is a must have! Check out the link below to purchase one if you don't have one in your kitchen.  It will be indispensable!

Quick Pineapple Preparation

Click on the arrow for a demo on quick pineapple preparation

Oven-Baking Bacon

This is an easy way to prep bacon, with exceptional results.  Baking bacon creates slices that are evenly cooked all the way through, unlike cooking it in a skillet where the heat is uneven.  Making a disposable rack of aluminum foil allows the fat to drip off and collect in the pan, ready to collect for a later use.  You can bake bacon in advance and hold it in the refrigerator for up to a week, ready to use in recipes or reheat and serve alone.  You will love this method!

Equipment needed:

Half-sheet pan                   Heavy-duty aluminum foil              Tongs

Paper Towel                       One-gallon freezer bag

Bacon, one pound

1.  Tear off 2 pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil, each double the length of the sheet pan.  Mold the foil over one short end of the pan.   Mold the foil into "ridges" about one-inch high and about 2 inches apart across the bottom of the pan, then mold the opposite end under the other end of the pan, trimming if there is excessive foil.  (See the picture above.)  Preheat the oven to 400-degrees.

2.  Lay bacon slices across the foil ridges, as pictured above.  Bake for 10-18 minutes (depending on thickness), until it is beginning to brown, then remove and turn the bacon over.  Return to the oven and bake until desired degree of crispness is attained. 

3.  Remove from the oven and transfer the bacon to a plate.  Allow the bacon drippings to cool, then scrape up the solid fat and save for another use.

4.  Use the bacon immediately or place on paper towels and slide into a one-gallon plastic freezer bag.  Refrigerate for up to one week.

One of my favorite coffee accessories!

My favorite, well-worn stainless coffee carafe. I love this thing!

I grew up in a house where coffee was a staple.  My mother loves it, and still drinks a significant amount every day.  Into her eighties now, I think her coffee and her faith have kept her happy and well all these years!  Her daughter inherited her taste for the stuff, too.

I do love coffee, but it has to be "good" coffee.  Not from a plastic tub ground Lord-only-knows how long ago and "cooked" to death.  No, I am a tiny bit a snob about my brew, and have a particular way of buying, preparing, and holding it.  A Bunn drip coffee maker is my technique of choice (because it is always ready and brews a pot in under 3 minutes!), and then into a pre-heated stainless carafe it goes. (And grinding my own beans just before brewing, preferably with a burr grinder, is a must.)   Bitter, muddy coffee that has been on a burner for a while is just not palatable.  (I told you I was a bit of a snob.)  I admire folks who can enjoy that stuff, they are hard core coffee lovers.  But I prefer a bit more delicacy, thus my love affair with coffee carafes and equipment.

At the cafe I used large vacuum sealed carafes, big enough to hold a half-gallon of coffee, which got refilled frequently.  That coffee never had a chance to become bitter!  But at home I have a stainless steel carafe with a screw-on top that I bought years ago at a delightful kitchen store in Hollister, California when we lived in nearby Gilroy   The name escapes me right now, but it was a fabulous store!  That was probably 18 years ago, but that quality carafe is still in service.  While I'm brewing my coffee I fill said carafe with really hot tap water.  Then, once the coffee is ready, I empty the carafe and fill it with coffee.  That coffee stays hot and fresh for several hours, never bitter or burnt.  Though I paid a pretty good price for it, it has paid for itself many times over by eliminating wasted coffee, poured out because it no longer tasted good.  And, yes, I've used the plastic counterpart while catering, which is better than nothing, but still can't compare to the stainless version.

My opinion then, is if you are a coffee fan, you might want to ask Santa or someone who loves you (and respects your coffee love) for your own fabulous carafe! 

Here are some models I found that compare to mine:

20-ounce carafe

 44-ounce carafe

Some other coffee equipment you might like, including an all-in-one system that grinds, brews, and holds in a stainless carafe!: 

Ali-in-one-system       Burr coffee grinder            Coffee grinder                Drip Brewer