Kitchen tricks you thought EVERYONE knew

[Shivananda]

I thought this might be fun to share about.... it occurred to me when someone said to me in the kitchen the other day "How in the world did you do THAT?" about a little food prep "trick" I thought EVERYONE knew. And I realized later that a number of people have asked me that same question about many other food prep techniques I just use and think everone knows.

This one was simply to split a banana in thirds the long way with my finger and then slice the resulting 3 strips into nifty little triangular pieces for a fruit salad. But my friend had never seen that done, and couldn't figure out how I had gotten that shape so easily. So I showed her how you can poke your finger into the end of a banana (not too soft) and wiggle it around until it starts to separate into three segments, then just zip along the length of the banana to make 3 strips. Then cut the strips to whatever length you want. A nice change from slices. And the long thin whole pieces crack kids up.

What are yours? Kitchen tricks that someone has pointed out to you that not everyone knows.

[JennaBoBenna]

I saw that trick in the movie "The Dreamers"!! I thought it was the coolest thing !! I did it a lot, too. I totally forgot about that! Thanks for the reminder :D

How about another banana ''trick''?:

Instead of opening it at the top with the stem, turn it upside-down and pinch the bottom! It's so fun and easy :p I open bananas like this all the time!

[juliebove]

I sure hadn't heard that about a banana. I had heard the thing about cutting a slice from the end opposite the stem, before asking a question that could be answered with a Yes, or a No. The seeds are purported to spell out the answer by whether they resemble a Y or an N. I don't know about this. For me, they always resemble a Y.

I had a friend show me that by slicing an apple in crosswise slices, you'll have a star shape in the middle where the seeds are. I thought that was kind of cool.

I had a neighbor show me how to quickly remove the core from a head of iceberg lettuce by banging it down on the counter a few times. This loosens the core and you simply grab it and pull it out with a twisting motion.

The quickest way to cut up sweet peppers is to set them down stem side up and cut them down lengthwise. If you sort of follow the shape of the pepper, putting the knife down where the pepper naturally goes in, you'll wind up with little scoop like pieces that can be filled with things. Or you can then take these pieces and cut into strips or chop. I used to think I had to go the other way with the pepper, tediously removing the core, the seeds and the pith. But by doing it the other way, the core and seeds usually remain intact. You might have to do a tad of trimming to remove some of the pith, but that's about it. I never cut a pepper the other way now unless I want the rings for garnish or something.

I use my kitchen scissors for a lot of things. They work well for chopping fresh herbs. Simply wash the herbs, dry them well and put them in a little cup. Then hold the scissors point down into the cup and snip. Long, thin veggies can be sliced with the scissors too. Like celery and green onion. A quick salad can be made by throwing whatever veggies I want in a bowl, then chopping with the scissors. I recently purchased some beefier scissors that are specially designed for this purpose. I don't like salad dressing and by chopping a salad this way with wet stuff like tomatoes and cucumbers, a dressing isn't necessary. Kids seem more likely to eat a chopped salad too.

For shredded cabbage, I use a big knife. That seems to work a lot better for me than the grater.

[Shivananda]

Hi Julie,

I just have to ask... are you related to David Bove the Naturopath in Seattle?

Seeds? When was the last time you actually saw seeds in a banana? I can't remember when. They hybridized them out for a more uniform look and I never see them any more.

And here's technique #3 for green peppers, when you need to save time (like in a restaurant) People are always asking me about this one...

Lay the pepper on its side and cut off both ends, leaving a roughly cylindrical piece. Slice through one side and run the knife around the inside to cut loose the seeds and core and discard.
Flatten the now hollow cylinder out into a sheet. Slice pepper strips of the desired width fron the flat sheet.

And then I clean up the ends a little to make garnishes with, or little veggie cupscups, or just toss into the bin for the juicer.

[juliebove]

Nope. Not related. Bove is my married name. My husband's family is mainly in PA, although there is one relative in CA.

[karenisraw]

My trick is this,

How to take the pit out of an Avocado.

First slice the avocado in half the long way. You should now have 2 halves, one with the pit and one without. Take the half with the pit in your left hand and in your right hand, pick up by the handle, a regular big kitchen knife that you would use to chop vegetables and hit the pit with the sharp edge of the knife so that the blade penetrates the pit fairly deeply. Keep the knife in the pit. Move the knife handle counter clockwise while still holding the half avocado firm in the left hand. The pit, still with the knife blade in it should "pop" out of the half avocado.

k



:p :p

[kmik]

LOL Karen... that's the way Alissa does it in her video... so I tried it once, and almost lost my thumb!!! So to anyone trying Karen's avocado technique, please use caution! Opposing thumbs are handy to keep attached.

[juliebove]

I had no problem getting the pit out of the avocado. However, the pit was stuck...and I mean STUCK on my knife! I came close to destroying my hand to get it off of the knife. The thought of just throwing the knife away had crossed my mind, but it was a new and very expensive knife. I do not like avocados and will probably never cut into another one, but if I do, I will be sure to use a cheap knife when I remove the pit!

[ArcticMist]

I squeeze the pit out of the avocado. So you get a little avocado juice on your hands but atleast you do not have to worry about losing fingers.

[yumyum]

Fun thread. :) As for avo's I just use a teaspoon to spoon it out. Knives can make me nervous, especially in stabbing motions. Heh. I sometimes wear an oven mitten when I use the electric coffee mill, to hold the lid. Such a fragile lid, such a nasty blender knife. Yeah, I guess it's a fobia. Hm. *steps between lines in pavement and moves on* (Kidding about the pavement.)

About the lettuce. I tend to keep the stem in, and then chop off the bit that I need for one serving of salad. With the stem in, it's easier to control. But I don't really have any neat tricks. When I make cabbage juice or beet juice, I have learned to chop them into small parts and only put a little into the juicer, at a time. That way it doesn't get stuck or overwork the juicer.

[maraw]

This seems almost rediculous to post, but my step-daughter was fascinated with my doing it one time.

If you shave the lower parts of an asparagus stem with a vegetable peeler, it is much more palatable to eat - especially raw. Not so chewy. And this is the part that is usually cut off and discarded.

[mommamia]

Great ideas~my daughter who is 8 told me a couple weeks ago that monkeys peal banana's from the 'wrong' side. So we've been eating our banana's like monkey's ever since!

[JinxieKat]

If you want a fine dice, or even a coarser chop, you can do this easily by cutting the onion like this.

Cut the not root end of the onion off.
Peal the onion.
Put the cut end on the cutting board and by going through the root end cut the onion in half.
Put the onion half on the cutting board with the longest cut side down.
Take a knife and push it through the onion half starting away from the root end and going towards the root but not through it. If you want larger pieces only do that once, maybe twice if you have a really fat onion, if you want smaller pieces do it as many times as you feel that you need to.
Now going lengthwise from the root of the onion to the cut end make more cuts, as close together as you want your onion pieces to be. Don't cut through the root though, the root is keeping the onion held together at this point.
Now, make your final cut along the cut end opposite the root. Make them as wide as you want your pieces of onion. Voilia, lots of onion pieces.

This sounds complicated, it is easier to show than to actually type out. Once you get the hang of it you can mince onion in no time flat!

Jinx

[Raene]

Great ideas~my daughter who is 8 told me a couple weeks ago that monkeys peal banana's from the 'wrong' side. So we've been eating our banana's like monkey's ever since!

Funny, this is how all of my Burmese friends do it too. Lol.

[sport]

[QUOTE=Shivananda]

This one was simply to split a banana in thirds the long way with my finger and then slice the resulting 3 strips into nifty little triangular pieces for a fruit salad. QUOTE]
I have to admit that I have been doing this since I was very young and my older sister was mean enough to tell me that sometimes you can find a little worm or maggot in the banana. After 40 years of splitting my banana before cutting it I must say that I have never found anthing that wriggles.

[sport]

I have another banana trick but it is more of a fun thing. Get a sewing needle and insert it in to the banana and rotate it about. You can cut through the fruit without damaging the skin. Do this in a few places and offer the fruit to someone to eat and then just laugh your head off.

[JMD]

I was taught that if you want to ripen up a lemon to roll it ont he counter for a minute or two..it gets soft and easier to extract juice:)

[fiddler]

Hey, most of you all probably know about citrus peelers, but if not you'll want one of these simple tools.. You'd be surprised how many people have seen me peel an orange and say ... Wow, I've never seen anyone peel an orange like that, what a neat tool.

It's a timesaver when you want to sit down and eat 7 or 8 oranges... The one shown in the picture is not my favorite; I prefer the ones that have a slight curve on the shaft to confirm to the contour of an orange. To use, just score the orange around the middle and then insert the thin edge of the blade under the peel and rotate until the peel separates. Then, you should have two equal halves of which to set the orange wedges in.

Also, since about 1993 my wife has made me squeeze my juice by placing my inexpensive Betty Crocker citrus juicer inside of a bucket that extends about 5 or 6" above the top of the citrus juicer. Thus, when I squeeze my oranges the occasional juice spray hits the side of the bucket instead of the walls and floor.

[karenisraw]

Grapefruit or orange hard to peel?

Roll the grapefruit or orange around on the kitchen counter pressing down firmly as you roll. This seperates the skin from the fruit. Now peel the skin off. It is much easier than if you do not roll.

k :)

[Conscious Midwife]

I roll avacados to make them soft

Brown bag bannanas to ripen faster


Large quantities of large fruit( apples, pears, etc..) can be washed in dishwasher

Freeze grapes for a cool treat

Slice bannanas and soak in lemon juice then freez for smoothies ice chips

[Denise Nicole]

I LOVE this thread! You have no idea how much I am learning. The "cooking" I learned was from dear Mom (bless her heart) who would zip open a hamburger helper box or pop open a spam can. On occasion she would get fancy and use "shake and bake"! Even though I am learning even more so since I went Vegan a few years ago. These things are something I never knew. :o

FYI -My girls loved the banana trick!

[JennaBoBenna]

Freeze grapes for a cool treat


Mmm! I did this on my vacation to Mexico last summer. It was so yummy, then I found a frozen spider in a little web stuck to one of the stems! EWWW :eek: I threw the grapes across the room, lol :o

[nikilee1]

to open a pomgrante without killing breaking seeds, just run the tip of a knife around the whole pomgrante and pull it apart. i saw it on a cooking show and was so happy i did not have to destroy those little babys

[aromaticwings]

Large quantities of large fruit( apples, pears, etc..) can be washed in dishwasher



Do you do this on full wash mode?? with no soaps? :confused:

[Rmiller]

How do you actually wash your fruit/veggies in the dishwasher??? What cleaner do you use??

Lisa

[Raene]

unless you have a chlorine filter on your dishwasher, they emit chlorine into the air (and on your fruit in this case). there was a really scary article about dishwashers a year or so ago and i havent used one since.

[Shivananda]

there was a really scary article about dishwashers a year or so ago and i havent used one since. Well, honestly, I think you've been a little lazy. Because if you really put your mind to it and dig for the information, you can find scary stories about everything.

And then you could stop doing everything. And then you could... wellllll... just dry up and wither away!

"50,000 people now dead from scary stories! Federal health officials baffled. Film at 11!"

But wait, how many were hospitalized from the actual scary dishwasher thing? None? What? You mean it was just a STORY?

[yumyum]

Mmm! I did this on my vacation to Mexico last summer. It was so yummy, then I found a frozen spider in a little web stuck to one of the stems! EWWW :eek: I threw the grapes across the room, lol :oSome insects can be frozen down, and then thawed again and survive. The spider might have come to life again, later. :)

[juliebove]

unless you have a chlorine filter on your dishwasher, they emit chlorine into the air (and on your fruit in this case). there was a really scary article about dishwashers a year or so ago and i havent used one since.

Uh... If your water has chlorine in it, wouldn't the mere fact that you were running it emit chlorine into the air? And even if it does, it's not bothering me. I can't be around chlorine bleach because it does something bad to my lungs. I notice what smells like a burning odor and then I get chest pains. My water doesn't do this to me and I'm still alive and kicking.

If you want some scary stories, go here:

http://snopes.com/

This website is packed with rumors and urband legends, many of which you've likely gotten in your inbox. Makes for some entertaining reading though!

[sport]

Some insects can be frozen down, and then thawed again and survive. The spider might have come to life again, later. :)
And he will come back and get you for trowing him out of the window.

[Shivananda]

I promise, you have never read this one before, and you are among the first to witness the true splendor of this suggestion:

This is especially effective when you're preparing food outside and the weather is sunny and hot, like August in the US, when I first created this particular chef's technique.

Take a large head of romaine lettuce and gently open the outer leaves outward a bit, making sure you don't break them off at the bottom. Then when about half the leaves are fanned out, reach in, grab the heart of the romaine, and twist it to to break it off at the base. Set this tender heart aside to eat in a salad or to garnish other food with. You now have a bucket shaped head of romaine. Get the picture?

OK, now turn the lettuce upside down, so the stem end is on top, and the large opening is down, and place it firmly over your head, pressing down so at least the tops of your ears are covered.

I promise, this will not only keep you cool as you feed the troops, but will occasion merriment and frivolity wherever you go while wearing it.

Remember, you learned it from Chef Shiva!

[Shivananda]

If you want some scary stories, go here:
http://snopes.com/ This website is packed with rumors and urband legends, many of which you've likely gotten in your inbox. Makes for some entertaining reading though!
The purpose of Snopes.com is to DEBUNK rumors, urban legends, internet myths, and the kind of scary stories which somehow wind up in your inbox from well-meaning friends. The vast majority of them untrue. I send people to Snopes all the time to find out that the latest "I just heard this, and it's terrible..." bit of grapevine horror they just sent ime s bogus, and has actually been floating around the internet since 1998, or whatever.

And to tell you the truth, many of the OGAIA!* stories I've read posted here can be found there, totally mythbusted. .

As to your chlorine dishwasher, sounds like you just need a chlorine filter on your incoming water line. That's an easy fix.

*OGAIA! = Oh God Ain't It Awful! Nonsense stories designed to scare your pants off, and convince you that the sky actually is falling, or whatevah.

[yumyum]

The sky *is* falling. We call it snow and rain. :P :D ;)

[Raene]

Well, honestly, I think you've been a little lazy. Because if you really put your mind to it and dig for the information, you can find scary stories about everything.

Not sure how it's *lazy* to do dishes by hand.
When you open the door of your dishwasher after washing, toxic volatized chlorine from dish detergent and tap water is released into the air. There is much more to the article. You shouldn't discredit things that you obviously know nothing about.

[sport]

I promise, this will not only keep you cool as you feed the troops, but will occasion merriment and frivolity wherever you go while wearing it.

Remember, you learned it from Chef Shiva!
You do not need a green head to be cool. We all think that you are cool without it.

[Dawn39]

When you slice up an onion save the ends and outer skin in a jar with water (tightly sealed) add garlic skin ( I have also added crushed garlic cloves). Let this ferment for at least a week. ( I agitate the jar & flip)

I bought an empty garden sprayer ( used for chemical pesticides)

Add some of your strained onion/garlic mix (1 part to 3parts water) you may adjust this.

Sprayaround your patio/porch.I've found it safe around my plants & lawn .This keep the biting critters away. Yet I still have visits from Mantis, and Lady bugs
( I have not had ticks, chiggers, my yard does not have allot of mosquitoes)
I live next to a Forrest right on the River, the insects were awful when we first moved here. I saw this recipe when the West Nile Scare was up a few years ago. It's not 100% as rain will wash it
I apply a few times aweek ( I hardly discard the onions/garlic I just keep adding or making new batches)

My neighbor teases me about the salad dressing smell ( I do not find it offensive, much better than the toxic stuff they use)

If anything this may help w/ summer outdoor Kitchens!!!

[Shivananda]

Not sure how it's *lazy* to do dishes by hand.Hey, Raene, lighten up! You misunderstood my tongue in cheek comment. I meant that accepting a scary story on face value without checking it out is not good, because there are SO MANY SCARY STORIES ABOUT EVERYTHING. Haven't you noticed that yet? Lots of people make their living writing scary stories, because there are so many gullible people ready to believe whatever they read and be scared by it!!! EEEEEEK!!! I just scared myself!

Now, can we please get back to the topic of this thread, which is food tricks you do that you thought everyone else knew, until you found out they don't?

We'll wash the dishes later. :)

[juliebove]

Does anyone have a cite for this dishwasher thingie? I looked and didn't see anything about it anywhere.

[oceanluv]

Hi, "back in the day"we used to wash our carrots and/or potatoes in the washing machine-no soap-and not the whole cycle, just the wash. it saved a lot of time and made canning/freezing so much easier. :)

[karenisraw]

Shivananda,

I was laughing sooooooo hard at your romaine lettuce idea that I had to go in and tell my roomate, but she did not laugh. I thought it was hilarious.

Also, I think you maybe should have left out the lazy comment. It would have hurt my feelings too.

k

:) :)

[Shivananda]

Also, I think you maybe should have left out the lazy comment. It would have hurt my feelings too.Hokey Dokey, I can see we are in severe need of a comedy transfusion around here.

ATTENTION ALL READERS OF THIS THREAD! What I m3eant to imply with my "lazy" comment was that it seemed lazy to me (in a comic sort of way) to find just ONE SCARY STORY and post it here, when it is so incredibly easy to find and believe and post MANY SCARY STORIES It had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with using her dishwasher, or not using it, OK?

And that, my darlings, was a form of humor sometimes called "irony." I know, I know, irony is supposed to have died on 9/11, but I refuse to accept that, and I do keep praying for a miracle!

Trust me, I ain't making fun of any of y'all, beloveds. I'm too busy. I've already got my hands full just making fun of myself. And I'm way too lazy to take on any more work than that.

But wait... hold on... you thought my romaine hat idea was funny? Funny!!?!The one that helped win me the prize for Best Costume at the Feejee Island Kava Party?? Oh! My heart! The pain, the pain! I can't take all this disrespect! It's too much, I'm
...losing
....my grip


on...........

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.....errrrrkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
<koff>

siggghhhhhhh <thud>

[Shivananda]

Here are a couple of dehydrator tips that I don't remember when or where I learned, and which I keep being surprised others don't know:

"How do you get your pizza crust/tortilla wrap/seed crackers so round / so thin / so flat?"

- After I put the food material on the Teflex sheet, I place another Teflex sheet over it and roll with a rolling pin in all directions until the crust or wrapper or cracker is the deisred thickness, then peel the top sheet off for drying. Also scoring with a pizza cutter before placing in the dehydrator makes them very easy to break apart once dried to the desired firmness. Yes, I even prescore pizza crusts into wedges, though I keep them together until the pie is done and ready to be served.

"How do you keep them so flat ? Mine all wind up curling like potato chips!"

- When one side is dry enough to get them off the Teflex sheet to allow the other side to dry, I double flip them. I place a spare rack with net sheet on top, then flip them over and peel off the Teflex, then flip them back onto the original rack minus the Teflex for final drying. I don't know why it works so well, but it does, and all the raw restaurants I've poked around in use some version of this technique.

"How do you get your falafels and Thai dumplings so nice and round? Mine get all squished."

- Well, I use a round scoops to shape them, for starters, and I pack the material in with the heel of my hand to avoid air pockets. The mini ice cream scoop style one I use for falafels is a "chocolate chip cookie" scoop I got years ago at Williams Sonoma. So they are really round going onto the Teflex sheets, and I palce the racks every other slot in the dehydrator so they don't get squished, and I use the abovementioned "double flip" to dry them completely without putting them on their heads.