I was doing some prep work for my chili that I'll be cooking for this weekend's chili cookoff. And while I was (slowly) prepping my veggies, thought about a few things that might be helpful to some other home cooks, stuff you won't see on any of the cooking shows.
Non-Standard Cooking Tip #1: Don't buy your gloves at the grocery store. No, seriously. If you use gloves for anything, buy them at the hardware store. And I'll tell you why. The latex surgical gloves that are very useful in the kitchen can be found in the grocery store, usually in either a 6 pack or a 12 pack, for about 3 bucks. For a few bucks more, you can find the exact same gloves in the hardware store (check the paint aisle), but in boxes of 50 or 100. Now, if you work with things that you'd need or want gloves for often enough (I do), the choice is pretty obvious.
As an aside here, I recommend wearing such gloves when dealing with any spicy peppers. I would have normally said any really spicy peppers, but I got schooled last night in that one. I cut up a red bell pepper and two poblano peppers without gloves, and then donned some gloves for the serrano peppers and the habanero peppers. And my hands are burning! Well over six hours later. Now, I didn't see any holes in the gloves, so I shall discount that possibility. And red bell peppers are, well, bell peppers. So no. So yeah, the poblanos, which are not very spicy peppers, were spicy enough, apparently, to make it so I am now sitting down to pee and studiously avoid rubbing my eyes with my hands, something I normally do quite frequently. So, yeah, wear your damn gloves, kids.
Non-Standard Cooking Tip #2: One of the best tools for de-seeding the insides of hot peppers, like poblanos, serranos, or habaneros, is a small measuring spoon. I use my 1/8 teaspoon spoon myself, and it is perfect because it is small, it is sturdy, and it just scoops those puppies right out, better than a standard spoon could.
So, anyone else have non-standard cooking tips? You know, things you've picked up along your cooking career that work for you but are not necessarily obvious, and things you probably would not see on your average cooking show. Things like the above, or Rachael Ray's use of a "garbage bowl."
Bring 'em on out!
Non-Standard Cooking Tip #1: Don't buy your gloves at the grocery store. No, seriously. If you use gloves for anything, buy them at the hardware store. And I'll tell you why. The latex surgical gloves that are very useful in the kitchen can be found in the grocery store, usually in either a 6 pack or a 12 pack, for about 3 bucks. For a few bucks more, you can find the exact same gloves in the hardware store (check the paint aisle), but in boxes of 50 or 100. Now, if you work with things that you'd need or want gloves for often enough (I do), the choice is pretty obvious.
As an aside here, I recommend wearing such gloves when dealing with any spicy peppers. I would have normally said any really spicy peppers, but I got schooled last night in that one. I cut up a red bell pepper and two poblano peppers without gloves, and then donned some gloves for the serrano peppers and the habanero peppers. And my hands are burning! Well over six hours later. Now, I didn't see any holes in the gloves, so I shall discount that possibility. And red bell peppers are, well, bell peppers. So no. So yeah, the poblanos, which are not very spicy peppers, were spicy enough, apparently, to make it so I am now sitting down to pee and studiously avoid rubbing my eyes with my hands, something I normally do quite frequently. So, yeah, wear your damn gloves, kids.
Non-Standard Cooking Tip #2: One of the best tools for de-seeding the insides of hot peppers, like poblanos, serranos, or habaneros, is a small measuring spoon. I use my 1/8 teaspoon spoon myself, and it is perfect because it is small, it is sturdy, and it just scoops those puppies right out, better than a standard spoon could.
So, anyone else have non-standard cooking tips? You know, things you've picked up along your cooking career that work for you but are not necessarily obvious, and things you probably would not see on your average cooking show. Things like the above, or Rachael Ray's use of a "garbage bowl."
Bring 'em on out!
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