What's your cooking dirty secret?
Discussion
Gary29 said:
Pre-chopped garlic in a jar. Aint nobody got time to bother peeling and crushing fresh garlic. Plus it's impossible to get the stink off your fingers for days.
Absolutely not, just practice. My chopping skills were s
t but now I can mince a whole bulb of garlic in about 5mins. No cheats, just a sharp knife.If you're going to be chopping garlic, just crush the clove in its skin under the flat side of a knife. Then the skins can be separated easily. If you want the garlic cloves whole, or for slicing then assuming you have two hands, hold each clove in both hands and give them a gentle twist back and forth. The skin will fall off!
3 from me - not really secrets but.
A Meater thermometer for Roast Pork - Cooking roast Pork to medium rare is a revelation. I don't think you could do it without the thermometer as you would never be able to trust yourself to take it out that soon (juices look wrong when the stick says take it out), but oh my god - A world apart from the dry tough pork joints of my childhood. Id go as far to say that because of this, Pork is now king of the roasts in our household!
Pan cooked chicken thighs - bone the thighs - cook them in a dry pan skin side down until they are crispy, turn them over, add whatever spice/ flavours, soy, oyster sauce, honey etc that you like and chuck in 2 cups of water. Let them boil & steam, until the water & spice mix has reduced to a thicker sauce, Serve anyway you like and people will say "I never liked chicken thighs before but these are delicious". Great for a midweek tasty dinner and if you hold the sugary stuff at the spice stage, ideal for low carb lovers.
And a slightly more off piste one
Oxtail cup-a-soup is the magic flavour enhancer for a sauce for a steak. I tend to do Whisky and Cream, or Mushroom and peppercorn, or sometimes all at once. But whatever you do a creamy sauce can need a flavour hit - I have a box of oxtail cup-a-soups just for this purpose, 1/3 of a sachet into a creamy sauce, Depth of flavour - job jobbed.
A Meater thermometer for Roast Pork - Cooking roast Pork to medium rare is a revelation. I don't think you could do it without the thermometer as you would never be able to trust yourself to take it out that soon (juices look wrong when the stick says take it out), but oh my god - A world apart from the dry tough pork joints of my childhood. Id go as far to say that because of this, Pork is now king of the roasts in our household!
Pan cooked chicken thighs - bone the thighs - cook them in a dry pan skin side down until they are crispy, turn them over, add whatever spice/ flavours, soy, oyster sauce, honey etc that you like and chuck in 2 cups of water. Let them boil & steam, until the water & spice mix has reduced to a thicker sauce, Serve anyway you like and people will say "I never liked chicken thighs before but these are delicious". Great for a midweek tasty dinner and if you hold the sugary stuff at the spice stage, ideal for low carb lovers.
And a slightly more off piste one
Oxtail cup-a-soup is the magic flavour enhancer for a sauce for a steak. I tend to do Whisky and Cream, or Mushroom and peppercorn, or sometimes all at once. But whatever you do a creamy sauce can need a flavour hit - I have a box of oxtail cup-a-soups just for this purpose, 1/3 of a sachet into a creamy sauce, Depth of flavour - job jobbed.
Paprika. I could add it to just about everything savoury and enjoy it. I became 'addicted' when living in Germany in the mid-60s where a local restaurant served nothing but paprika coated chicken in a basket.
Plus (as has already been mentioned) Maggi, got hooked at the same time, never been without a bottle or several in a kitchen cupboard since.
Plus (as has already been mentioned) Maggi, got hooked at the same time, never been without a bottle or several in a kitchen cupboard since.
Actually similar to fat8ob on his roasts, my secret isn't dirty but out in the open-a steam oven.
Roast chickens where you can hardly cut the meat as it slips off the carcass despite having crispy skin, roast pork with perfect crackling and moist meat, pizzas that rise with bubble filled crusts...
I could go on, no kitchen should be without one and there's no way I'd live without one in the future.
Roast chickens where you can hardly cut the meat as it slips off the carcass despite having crispy skin, roast pork with perfect crackling and moist meat, pizzas that rise with bubble filled crusts...
I could go on, no kitchen should be without one and there's no way I'd live without one in the future.
ZedLeg said:
Braising in soda is a very American thing, apparently ham cooked in coke is good.
The Mrs does her xmas ham every year in dirty cheap coke. Apparently it's getting harder (this all sounds very wrong!) these days since the sugar tax as getting regular cheap cola made with regular sugar is pretty difficult-who knew?Pflanzgarten said:
Actually similar to fat8ob on his roasts, my secret isn't dirty but out in the open-a steam oven.
Roast chickens where you can hardly cut the meat as it slips off the carcass despite having crispy skin, roast pork with perfect crackling and moist meat, pizzas that rise with bubble filled crusts...
I could go on, no kitchen should be without one and there's no way I'd live without one in the future.
Interesting - just as I was looking for a new toy after lots of air fryer cooking Roast chickens where you can hardly cut the meat as it slips off the carcass despite having crispy skin, roast pork with perfect crackling and moist meat, pizzas that rise with bubble filled crusts...
I could go on, no kitchen should be without one and there's no way I'd live without one in the future.
Any recommends on models?
Oh, my dirty secret is unashamed use of MSG. Lots of myths surround this stuff, but think of it like salty-umami-gorgeousness and you're there!
Stig said:
Pflanzgarten said:
Actually similar to fat8ob on his roasts, my secret isn't dirty but out in the open-a steam oven.
Roast chickens where you can hardly cut the meat as it slips off the carcass despite having crispy skin, roast pork with perfect crackling and moist meat, pizzas that rise with bubble filled crusts...
I could go on, no kitchen should be without one and there's no way I'd live without one in the future.
Interesting - just as I was looking for a new toy after lots of air fryer cooking Roast chickens where you can hardly cut the meat as it slips off the carcass despite having crispy skin, roast pork with perfect crackling and moist meat, pizzas that rise with bubble filled crusts...
I could go on, no kitchen should be without one and there's no way I'd live without one in the future.
Any recommends on models?
Oh, my dirty secret is unashamed use of MSG. Lots of myths surround this stuff, but think of it like salty-umami-gorgeousness and you're there!
Sorry it's not dirty.
It occurred to me many years ago that we generally roast chickens upside down (in relation to how they were when alive) and that if you cook them the right way up it's better.
So the first half is cook right way up, second half is traditional way up. This means lovely brown crispy skin all round, no burned skin and no overcooked breast.
It occurred to me many years ago that we generally roast chickens upside down (in relation to how they were when alive) and that if you cook them the right way up it's better.
So the first half is cook right way up, second half is traditional way up. This means lovely brown crispy skin all round, no burned skin and no overcooked breast.
Stig said:
Pflanzgarten said:
Actually similar to fat8ob on his roasts, my secret isn't dirty but out in the open-a steam oven.
Roast chickens where you can hardly cut the meat as it slips off the carcass despite having crispy skin, roast pork with perfect crackling and moist meat, pizzas that rise with bubble filled crusts...
I could go on, no kitchen should be without one and there's no way I'd live without one in the future.
Interesting - just as I was looking for a new toy after lots of air fryer cooking Roast chickens where you can hardly cut the meat as it slips off the carcass despite having crispy skin, roast pork with perfect crackling and moist meat, pizzas that rise with bubble filled crusts...
I could go on, no kitchen should be without one and there's no way I'd live without one in the future.
Any recommends on models?
Just be careful it's a proper steam oven with a water connection or tap filled tank. Some Micro/Combi ovens claim to be steam ovens but it's nothing more than throwing water in the bottom of your oven and a button to press!
Pflanzgarten said:
I fit built in ones, I fitted a Samsung at home but I certainly wouldn't recommend them as their reliability is terrible. The standard answer is usually Miele but they all work on the same principle so any decent brand should suffice I imagine. If you'er looking at counter top ones it maybe narrows the field.
Just be careful it's a proper steam oven with a water connection or tap filled tank. Some Micro/Combi ovens claim to be steam ovens but it's nothing more than throwing water in the bottom of your oven and a button to press!
Yes, counter top probably. Have a double oven/hob, so no space for a fitted unit.Just be careful it's a proper steam oven with a water connection or tap filled tank. Some Micro/Combi ovens claim to be steam ovens but it's nothing more than throwing water in the bottom of your oven and a button to press!
Will have a look to see if there's anything half decent that fits the bill - otherwise I'll just spritz the food manually!
Gary29 said:
Pre-chopped garlic in a jar. Aint nobody got time to bother peeling and crushing fresh garlic. Plus it's impossible to get the stink off your fingers for days.
lazy garlic - have to say though that as convenient as it is it's not (IMO) got the same taste (possibly because it's in vineger?)DodgyGeezer said:
Gary29 said:
Pre-chopped garlic in a jar. Aint nobody got time to bother peeling and crushing fresh garlic. Plus it's impossible to get the stink off your fingers for days.
lazy garlic - have to say though that as convenient as it is it's not (IMO) got the same taste (possibly because it's in vineger?)Well I love it, and will not be changing my ways any time soon.
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