Kitchen Quick Tips - Easy Lettuce Coring

To quickly core head lettuce, rap the core hard on the counter.  The core will then be easy to pop out leaving the lettuce ready for cleaning and prep.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Sticky Spoons

Spray a spoon with non-stick cooking spray before using it to scoop honey or peanut butter.  The spoon will clean-up easily with no sticking.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Quickly Seed Cucumbers

To quickly seed cucumbers with little waste, cut the cucumber in half then run a melon baller down the length of both halves to scoop out the seeds.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Cutting Delicate Herbs

Quickly prepare delicate fresh herbs (eg. parsley, chives) by snipping across the herb with scissors rather than a knife. 

Kitchen Quick Tips - How to Quickly Soften Cream Cheese

Quickly warm cream cheese to room temperature by placing the foil-wrapped package* [in a small zipper style storage bag] and place in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes, or until softened.

*Note, cream cheese is that is wrapped in foil wrapping with seams that could let water in, use the zipper bag.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Grating Semi-soft Cheeses

Prevent semi-soft cheeses from sticking to the box grater or shredder blade of the food processor by spraying lightly with a vegetable oil spray.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Peeling Garlic

The easiest way to peel garlic is to place each clove rounded side up on a cutting  rounded side up, lay the flat of a chef's knife on to of it then hit with your fist just enough to break the skin.  The skin will now easily come off the clove.

Peeling Tomatoes

Of all the tomato products that I can and freeze there are very few that I've used unpeeled tomatoes.  Instead the tomatoes are either passed through the food strainer or hand peeled.  The pulp of tomatoes passed through the food strainer is used to make smooth tomato sauces.  The remaining skins and seeds that aren't dried end up in the compost bin.  Tomatoes that are hand peeled are used to make chunkier sauces, salsas as well as whole or stewed tomatoes.  Those being used for chunkier sauces are cored and seeded.  The tomato meat is rough chopped for the sauces.   The seed sacks are left to drain in a strainer.  The liquid is reserved for making tomato stock and the seeds prepared for seed saving.  I don't core or seed th tomatoes that are canned as whole or stewed.  The peels are dried down for tomato powder.

A surprising number of home canners do not like to peel tomatoes.  Aesthetically peeled tomatoes look nicer however the end product has a better texture without the peels.  One year I used a stick blender to blend the skins into a batch of roasted tomato sauce.  Looking at the sauce you couldn't tell they were there but the texture wasn't as nice as roasted tomato sauce that had been passed through the food strainer. 

Peeling tomatoes is not a difficult task.  I wash and rinse the tomatoes well then transfer them to my huge stainless steel bowl.  I clean out the sink then fill about a quart of the way full with cold water.  I use a large pot filled about half way with water.  I bring the water to a boil then place as many tomatoes as will comfortably fit and return the water to a boil.  I leave the tomatoes about 1 minute or until the skin cracks (green arrow).  I continue in this fashion until the sink is full adding more cold water as necessary.  Then I put on a pair of surgical gloves.  I hold the tomato in my left hand, cut across the stem end with a paring knife, give a little squeeze and the tomato pops out of the skin.  The top piece goes into the compost bucket, the peeled tomato goes into another large bowl and the skins go into a bowl where they later be spread out for drying.

I let the whole tomatoes sit in the large bowl where they will release some of their liquid.  This will be used to make tomato stock.  If the tomatoes are to be cored and seeded I cut each tomato into quarters lengthwise then with a scraping motion of my thumb each quarter is quickly seeded.  I turn the quarters to line up lengthwise and cut across for a rough chop.  I then put the cut pieces into a 4 c measuring cup.  When the cup is filled I pour the cut tomatoes into a strainer over the tomato liquid bowl where they will continue to drain while I get the next 4 c portion of cut tomatoes ready.  In this manner anytime I am using peeled or peeled and cut tomatoes I end up with the desired product, tomato stock and tomato powder. 

Even though my method sounds time consuming and a bit complicated it really isn't.  I set up everything assembly line fashion so the tomatoes go from the hamper to the sink for washing then as everything else is done is succession.  From start to finish I can have a hamper to tomatoes peeled, seeded and chopped in about an hour.  At the same time I usually have a sauce on the go with the first of the chopped tomatoes and by the time the tomatoes are finished being peeled it is ready for the canner.  So everything works together rather smoothly despite a high level of multi-tasking.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Mise en Place

If you were lucky enough to have take Home Economics aka Home Ec in high school or have watched any cooking shows you will be familiar with getting all of your ingredients and equipment ready prior to cooking. The culinary term for this is mise en place, a French phrase defined by the Culinary Institute of America as "everything in place, as in set up and ready to use. Today's Frugal Kitchens 101 will explore the concept of mise en place, why you should use it, how it can save you money and what you will need.

Why should you use mise en place?

• It streamlines (convenience) the cooking process saving you time. You don't have to stop mid-stream when cooking to go looking for an ingredient. This makes cooking considerably more enjoyable.
• It is an effective check list so you know you have everything necessary to complete that dish.
• It reduces the risk for accidents (eg. burning food while searching for and ingredient), personal injury and property damage (eg. flash fire).
• It reduces contamination between foods. If you are in a hurry during food prep it is quite common to not wipe or use separate measuring spoons. This introduces contamination into the main container that can cause off flavours and even spoilage.
• It reduces the chance of over seasoning or adding a spoiled ingredient. If you only have 1 tsp of an ingredient in your mise en place bowl, you can only add that amount rather than an accidental extra.
  

How can mise en place save you money?

• Any cross contamination between foods can cause spoilage. Spoilage ultimately costs you because you end up tossing the dish or the contaminated ingredient then you have to purchase again.
• It serves as a safety check to prevent forgotten ingredients that can result in the failure of the dish leading to wastage.
  
• Eggs in particular should always be cracked into a bowl before adding to avoid adding a spoiled egg into the dish. If the egg is spoiled all the rest of the ingredients need to be tossed out and you have to start over wasting both time and money.
• If you gather all your ingredients first before even starting you mise en place you will eliminate that moment of horror when you realize you are out of one critical ingredient. It eliminates that drop everything and run to the grocery store moment that ultimately costs you both time and money.
  

What do you need for mise en place?

• several small 3 or 4 ounce glass bowls for small dry measurements
• 2 ounce silicone pinch bowls for smaller dry and wet measurements
  
• dry/wet measuring cups
• measuring spoons
  
• 1 to 2 stainless steel measuring bowls