Tweet
Pepper (meaning dried peppercorns) is better when fresh-ground because it loses its flavour quickly. This goes for most herbs and spices, although some are simply different when ground or dried vs. whole or fresh.
Unless you're making a brine, or a soup where the herbs are in a bundle, don't use whole peppercorns. They're rather painful to bite down on, from both the perspective of your teeth and tongue.
If you're uncomfortable with cooking in a pan, try baking in an oven. One of my favourite dishes is slow-baked salmon (and you don't have to worry about undercooking it, salmon, when a high-grade and fresh, is very good slightly undercooked):
Take a couple servings of salmon, in an open tinfoil packet, and pour a light oil (veggie, canola) over it, then add salt and pepper. Don't use olive oil for this one, it's really not necessary. Set your oven to 250, and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the salmon is flaky.
The only mainstream meats you have to make sure you cook through are chicken and pork. Beef and lamb are fine if slightly underdone, and fish, if fresh, is absolutely delicious when just barely seared around the edges.
Generally, if you're cooking veggies in a pan, you don't need to have the heat so high that you're risking splatter. Use olive oil instead of butter, and make sure there's no water on the veggies when you put them in the pan, you should be fine.
Unless you're making a brine, or a soup where the herbs are in a bundle, don't use whole peppercorns. They're rather painful to bite down on, from both the perspective of your teeth and tongue.
If you're uncomfortable with cooking in a pan, try baking in an oven. One of my favourite dishes is slow-baked salmon (and you don't have to worry about undercooking it, salmon, when a high-grade and fresh, is very good slightly undercooked):
Take a couple servings of salmon, in an open tinfoil packet, and pour a light oil (veggie, canola) over it, then add salt and pepper. Don't use olive oil for this one, it's really not necessary. Set your oven to 250, and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the salmon is flaky.
The only mainstream meats you have to make sure you cook through are chicken and pork. Beef and lamb are fine if slightly underdone, and fish, if fresh, is absolutely delicious when just barely seared around the edges.
Generally, if you're cooking veggies in a pan, you don't need to have the heat so high that you're risking splatter. Use olive oil instead of butter, and make sure there's no water on the veggies when you put them in the pan, you should be fine.
I claim they're good for stress.
I now have $2 in quarters.
Comment