 Joe Ciminera Cooking Tips1. Try tying fat around lean meats or game to keep them from drying out during the cooking process. The fat bastes the meat, pultry or game while it cooks, keeping it moist and adding flavor. The fat has to be removed a few moments before the meat is finished, allowing the meat to brown. 2. A nice touch to put on an Italian influenced dish is a chiffonade of basil just slice into very thin strips or shreds. Sprinkle on top of any dish desired. Translated from French, the term means "made of rags". 3. When marinating meats stick to a few familiar ingredients that always go well with meats, fresh garlic, basil, shallots, scallions, olive oil, and basalmic vinegar. Start to soak the meats in a seasoned liquid mixture for a certain length of time. The purpose of marinating is to tenderize the meat while adding flavor to it. Just be sure not to amrinate meats in any kind of container, the marinade is usually highly acidic, foods should be marinated in glass, ceramic or stainless steel containers. Foods should also be submerged in the liquid and refrigerated while they are marinating. 4. Store finished stocks and demi glaces into ice cube trays and freeze them. Once the stock is frozen, remove it from the ice cube tray and place in a zip lock style freezer bag. Never leave the stock or demi in the ice tray, it may develop freezer burn and interfere with the flavor. Any time you need stock, it will be readily available. 5. Try to cook thick soups and sauces on a low simmer to avoid scorching. If you scorch a soupor sauce, don't stir or scrap the bottom. Just pour the liquid into another pan. By stirring the bottom of the pot you are adding the burnt flavor to the soup or sauce also. 6. When dicing raw garlic add a pinch of kosher salt to it, this prevents the garlic from sticking to the blade of the knife. |
