Tag Archives: tips

Food

Seeding Pomegranates

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Ruby orbs of juicy goodness. Yes, I am talking about pomegranate seeds. At Trader Joe’s they charge about $3.99 for pomegranate seeds. They look like they are about 1 pomegranate’s worth, maybe less than 1. Now on the other side. Here are 3 pomegranates that I bought for 50 cents a pound at a farmer’s market. But then there is the business of seeding them. It is super easy if you just plan ahead a little.

The first thing I do is cut them in half. Then I submerge them in a bowl of cold water. Let them sit for a while and the membranes start to absorb the water. That enables the pomegranate to release the seeds a little bit. After they sit just break out the seeds but do it under the water. Tossing out as much of the peel and membrane as you can.
Then run fresh water after you skim off as much of the membrane as possible. Then agitate the seeds in the water and leave them alone for a bit. The yucky bits (including dud seeds) will rise to the top. Then I dump them onto paper towel and then in a bowl. I tend to stick them in the fridge and just pick up some for a snack or throw them in salads. The other fun thing to do is stick them in the freezer. Then I drop them into all kinds of drinks from mixed drinks to lemonades.

Food

Super Easy Home Made Chicken Stock

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Ahh, the elusive home made chicken stock. But I don’t want to collect bones in my freezer or watch the pot for hours upon hours. So is there an easier way? Definitely! Now it may not be quite as good as one made with chicken feet and simmered for days but then again, neither are the cans. I use dark meat on bones to make my stock and then I use the meat for chicken pot pies and other meals.

Ingredients:
3 lbs dark chicken meat, on the bone but skinless
2 ribs of celery chopped (optional, NerdDad doesn’t like the taste of celery so I don’t use it)
1 onion chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 heaping teaspoons minced garlic
A few stalks of herbage (pick 1 kind, I often use parsley)
Water to cover
2 teaspoons of oil
Process:
Heat stock pot on medium heat, place oil in the bottom. Dump in celery, onion, and carrots and sweat. When the carrots just start to get a little soft around the edges add the garlic. Continue to cook until you can smell the garlic. Then drop in the meat and cover with water. Bring it to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Continue on a simmer for 30 minutes. Then remove the chicken and do as you wish with it. Then strain all the liquid and discard the solids. Then you have cups and cups of beautiful stock. It freezes beautifully!
(Check out more wonderful things at WFMW!)

Food

Sticky Cheese?

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We all have had this happen. We have some yummy dish covered in cheese that then needs to be covered with foil to cook. When you go to look at your lovely creation it has lost some of its cheesy goodness. Well, here are a couple tips that might help.

  • There isn’t a lot of magic in fluffy shredded cheese when baking. So just lightly press down your cheese into you dish.
  • While for freezeing you do want the aluminum as close to the surface as possible, the same isn’t said for cooking. If you are covering something to go right into the oven just add an inch to your length and tent it up a little. The it may look like a little pyramid;).
  • Another thing you can do is lightly (very lightly) spray you foil with a bit of non-stick spray. I don’t do this often but it has helped in the past.
  • If all else fails take a long, thin, straight spatula and scrape you aluminum as you are lifting it off your dish. Then you can save as much of the gooey cheese as possible!

Food

Cooking With Kids: Tools

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Let me preface this post with the fact that I don’t believe in buying “kid sets” of things for the kitchen but;). Knives are something that you want to be very careful in allowing a kid to use. I love using this Pampered Chef Kid Safe knife with my oldest. These really are safe knives and can cut most basic things that you would allow your kids to help with. Now from it isn’t that expensive from Pampered Chef (like $3 but then add shipping and handling) but there may be a cheaper alternative. I think this knife looks a pumpkin carving knife. So you might want to be on the look out when you are visiting the bargain stores!

Food

Food Tip: Mashed Potatoes

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I love (and the NerdFamily does too!) mashed potatoes but I hate peeling them. I have a new secret weapon in easy and quick mashed potatoes, Food Mill! Just wash and cube your potatoes, skin and all. Then when they are done you dump them into the mill and turn the handle. You will get velvetey mashed potatoes and all the skins will be left behind. Now you may get little flecks of skin (depending on what variety of potato you are using) but it looks fine and tastes great.

One more tip on great mashed potatoes? Salt the water you boil the potatoes in. That is right, just salt it heavily just like you do to pasta!

Food

Leveling Cakes

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So I needed to level a bunch of cakes and I seemed to have found a solution (I am so proud of myself!). Take 2 boxes (I used latke mix) and put the cake in between them. Then I used the blade off of my electric knife to level them. The key to blade choice is one that is totally flat on one side. You will notice in the pictures that the white part is only on one side. If you don’t have a blade that doesn’t lie flat or is handle-free you can get a hack saw blade from the home store.