365 Cooking Tips and Tricks Every Cook Needs to Know by C. Stewart - HTML preview

Fruits and Vegetables

352. Try using Portabella mushrooms in dishes next time: The rich, savory, “beefsteak” flavor can really kick up your dish by several notches.

353. If your potatoes show signs of budding or decay, your storage arrangements are not ideal. To store properly, sort your potatoes and remove ones that are bruised, cut or damaged. DO NOT WASH. Lay potatoes on a thick layer of newspapers in a cool, dark cupboard or pantry. After a couple of weeks, line a basket with a single layer of newspaper.

Add a single layer of potatoes. Add another layer of newspaper. Add a single layer of potatoes. Repeat this as many times as you need (or as the basket will hold), finishing off with a layer of newspaper. Your aim is to prevent light from reaching the potatoes (light is their enemy!) Check your potatoes about once a week, to make sure no renegades are turning “bad” – which can ruin the entire basket-full.

354. 50-60°F is the perfect storage temperature for potatoes. Refrigerators are generally not only too cold, but far too damp. (If you don’t have a cool pantry, find a spot out of the light in your basement.)

355. If you don’t want to practice the layering method, at least sort your potatoes and place the remainder in a cardboard box or thick, brown paper bag. Seal loosely by closing box or folding over bag top.

356. If you grow your own potatoes, let them dry out thoroughly before storing. If you have leftover potatoes stored in the spring, use them as starter potatoes in your garden.

357. Store apples by starting out as you would with potatoes – sorting out damaged ones. With apples, however, store them in a mesh or perforated plastic bag. They like a cooler temperature than potatoes (30-35°F).

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365 Cooking Tips & Tricks Every Cook Needs To Know

358. Choosing apples for storage: Late-harvest varieties store the best (for one thing, they’ll be fresher than apples picked in summer; and it’s easier to keep them cool). Choose ripe fruit for storage – unripe apples will store poorly and are likely to be unpalatable after ripening.

359. Apples may last up to six months, if stored properly: However, with some varieties, the skin may wrinkle a little in the later stages. As long as the apple is still firm, shows no discoloration and smells sweet, you can peel off the wrinkled skin. The texture may be slightly woody for eating – but they are perfect for cooking and reducing into compotes or baking in pies.

360. Store apples by variety: Do not mix. Different types of apples ripen at different stages.

361. You can freeze raw apple slices – but they need to be treated first. This involves peeling and coring before slicing, dipping or gently tossing them in lemon juice (to prevent discoloration), then dipping or gently tossing them in sugar. (Add cinnamon or a hint of cloves, if you wish.) Deep-freeze them immediately on a baking tray.

When frozen, place them in large freezer bags. Frozen apples can be placed, unthawed, in a pie crust, covered with a top pastry layer and baked – but do increase your baking time. (You can also put them, frozen, in a greased casserole dish and cover with apple crisp or crumble topping; then bake.)

362. As with apples, choose late-variety onions for storage, if you are planning to store farmer’s market or garden onions. Yellow, red and white onions all store equally well – but stronger-smelling onions store the best.

(The smell is caused by sulphites, which act as a preservative.)

363. As with potatoes, cure your onions for a couple of weeks, letting them dry out in a location with no light.

You can tell they are ready for storage when the outside is dry and papery – and the stems no longer appear green. Store them in a similar temperature range to potatoes – about 45-55°F. If storing with potatoes or other vegetables, don’t allow the onions to touch them and be aware that the smell may permeate your other

vegetables, if it is too pungent. Humidity should be no greater than 65%.

364. Frugalliving.about.com offers a novel alternative to storing onions: Taking a pair of clean panty-hose, dropping an onion in the toe, making a knot, dropping another onion in, making another knot and so on until the entire “leg” is filled with single layers of single onions. When you need an onion, “cut a slit in the side of one of the tied-off sections” and remove.

365. With all porous, fleshy fruits and vegetables with a high moisture content – such as apples or potatoes – do not let them come in contact with other fruits and vegetables, especially onions. (The flavor of the other vegetable is liable to transfer to your porous potatoes or apples.)

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365 Cooking Tips & Tricks Every Cook Needs To Know

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