Cooking Tofu

Want to make cooking tofu an easy breeze? Are you frustrated that everytime you make a sautee with tofu it always crumbles into little pieces? A useful trick is to boil the tofu for a few minutes before sauteeing. It will help tofu maintain its shape. Try it!

How to cook dried beans (like the dried garbanzos we have) and more about garbanzo beans

Baking any kind of meat

When you bake something, you encounter a great risk of that something turning into a piece of wood. Things dry out very easily in the oven if moisture is not retained. There are several tips of baking that you might consider:

1. if baked "open air", make sure you drizzle enough oil on the meat. Oil definitely helps retain moisture.

2. also an essential practice to go with step 1, make sure the pieces are well seasoned with salt and pepper. Even if later it's served with some kind of sauce.

3. make sure the meat pieces are generally of the same size to ensure consistency in cooking time.

4. covering the meat with aluminum foil or wrapping all the meat up with pastry sheets also do the trick.

5. searing the meat high0-heat on a skillet before baking. it not only ensures a golden, crispy presentation, the seared surface also helps trap moisture in the meat.

Safe Meat Defrosting(courtesy of Fred Chang, KM 04-05, 05-06)

To start, let's talk a bit about why we have to defrost meat a certain way. Improper defrosting increases the bacterial growth rate and produces toxins that are not destroyed by cooking. The key is maintaining the temperature of the food being defrosted below 40F at all times.

The three safe methods of defrosting are: 1) In the refrigerator; 2) In cold water; and 3) In a microwave.

Defrosting in the refrigerator

1. the frozen item should be placed on the lowest shelf with a pan or container to catch any juices from the defrosting process
2. allow 24 hours of defrosting time for every 5 pounds of meat. for example, if you are defrosting 20 pounds of meat, make sure to start 3-4 days in advance
3. temperatures in different parts of the refrigerator may vary -- this may slow down the defrosting process

Defrosting in cold water

1. you must only use cold water
2. the frozen item must be in a leakproof bag or wrap to avoid bacterial contamination
3. the water should be changed every 30 minutes (otherwise the water temperature will be too cold)

Defrosting in the Microwave

1. the defrosted item must be cooked immediately after being defrosted since some parts of the item will be cooked or warmed beyond safe temperatures
2. this is generally a bad idea for large blocks of meat because the outside of the meat cooks while the inside remains frozen

More How-To's:

Fall cooking ingredients

Winter cooking ingredient

Spring cooking ingredients

Lettuce info galore! if you'd like to request specific kinds...

Lots of potato info

How to blanche vegetables

How to cook pumpkins

How to cook great steak

How to sear scallops and other protein

How to tell if your fish is cooked

How to section an orange

How to use fresh ginger

How to sauté

How to cook pasta