Rosemary, De-Thorned

If you don't cook with rosemary that often, you probably just have some dried rosemary in your pantry for those rare occasions a recipe calls for it.

Or maybe that's just me, but I use it in such small quantities here and there that I never use up all the fresh rosemary I would buy, and I can only infuse so many bottles of olive oil with leftovers!

Unfortunately, dried rosemary is immensely prickly, and you can't chop it up the way you can with fresh (tho frankly even fresh rosemary is quite prickly!) so you probably end up with spiky twigs in your finished dish.

Here is my forehead-slapping-ly obvious solution:

The good ol' Mortar & Pestle.

Place however much dried rosemary you need at the bottom, and add a pinch of kosher or sea salt (not table salt, as that is too fine to assist in breaking down the rosemary.)

Give it about a minute or so of really solid grounding, rubbing it against the sides as if stirring vigorously.

There may be a few stubborn twigs left (probably stems anyway) but you should be left with an only slightly coarse yet pungent powder that will dissolve nicely into gravy, or that you can use to stuff a roll of pork, chicken, or lamb, and not worry about anyone getting stabbed in the tongue.

It seems obvious, but if you don't use your mortar and pestle that often, you can forget that you have one!

Pineapple Mango Salsa

It's summer, it's hot, and no one wants to turn on the oven.

(Well, maybe people with central air, but they don't really experience summer.)

This is an incredibly tasty mix of bright and zippy flavors, delicious on its own, but also great over cooked meats.

Ingredients: 1 pineapple, 4 ripe champagne mangos*, 1 large jalapeño pepper, 1 medium shallot, and about 1/4 cup of fresh lime juice.

Try to chop the pineapple and mangos into the same size pieces, and give the jalapeño and shallot a fine dice. This will be time consuming but worth it in the end.

*If you cannot find champagne mangos, 3-4 regular ripe mangos will do just fine. I just used champagne mangos because there was a special on them! However, they taste just like the usual green and pink skinned mangos but they have a thinner skin and a slightly less fibrous flesh.

If you have never carved up a mango before, this is the best way that I have found.

First slice down either side of the pit, as close as you can get to the pit without hitting it.

Next, make a grid with your knife through the flesh of the mango halves in whatever size you want your finished dice to be, and be sure to go all the way to the skin but not piercing it.

Then you invert the mango half and carefully run your knife between the skin and the (very slippery) orange flesh. (Feel free to use your teeth to eat any remaining layer of mango on the skin when no one is looking!)

You should now have lovely little cubes of mango ready to eat.

While I was dicing all the pineapple and mangos, I let the finely diced shallot mellow in the fresh lime juice. Just as you might use vinegar to mellow raw onion or shallot in a salad dressing, the acid in the lime juice takes some of the bite out of it here.

About half way thru the "mellowing" process I added the (seeded) and diced jalapeno with a pinch or two of salt and gave it a stir.

Put everything in a large bowl and toss to combine.

This salsa will taste better if given some time to meld, and for the acids in the lime juice and pineapple to break everything down a little bit.

It should be sweet and tangy, with just a little bit of heat from the jalapeño. 

(Again, I only like a mild level of heat in my food, so adjust to your own tastes.)

A delicious summer treat!

A Marathon of Quick Tips

Yesterday was the 2010 NYC Marathon, and the hubs ran it in 3 hrs 45 minutes!
Yaaaaaaaaaaay!!!
And he was still able to walk and talk afterward!
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

I'm sure the fact that I helped him train this year accounts for his impressive time... or... you know... the fact that he is something of a natural runner. Something I have never been.
Also, I'm sure this inspired him to power through after Mile 19:

I'm awkwardly holding up a sign cheering him on and trying not to thwack him with it.

Awwwwwww....

I am torn between being very proud of him, and wishing for the sake of our old age and old knees that he would retire in the VERY near future. Unfortunately, something tells me he isn't retiring from marathon running any time soon, as he came home with literature on the Washington D.C. Marathon, as well as one in Rome this coming Spring.

He might be able to twist my arm into cheering him on in Rome... we are taking donations towards our airfare now. :)

In response to a recent reader's comment (a.k.a. - Why didn't you tell me that would happen?!) I'm going to throw a few more tips your way in this post.

Fresh Herbs:

Fresh herbs are wonderful. They can instantly brighten leftovers, bring an otherwise mediocre meal to life, perfume your whole kitchen, and do it all with basically zero calories.

Note: when using fresh herbs, remember that they contain minute amounts of water within them, so if you throw them whole into a pan of hot oil, they will pop and attempt to leap directly out of the pan, and can spatter you with hot oil at the same time.

Other than making sure your meat browns properly, that is also why you always want to make sure any protein you are cooking/searing is pat fully dry. It's not fun when your food spits back at you.

Garlic:

As you may have noticed from my recipes, I really enjoy cooking with garlic. Not only is it delicious, but it also helps your immune system fight off ills. I consider it a staple flavor in many of my meals.

Note: If you are following any recipes of mine in which I say to grate the garlic and then only give it about 30 seconds to cook in the pan, that is because I am using a superfine Microplane grater, and the resulting garlic is now a wet paste that only needs 30 seconds to cook before it could start to burn.

If you are in fact mincing the garlic in your home, or finely slicing, feel free to give the garlic a good 2 minutes in your hot pan to allow the flavors to sufficiently mellow.

Sauces:
When any sauce or gravy tells you to start off with onions and garlic, I suggest keeping your pan on medium to medium-low while they sweat out. Onions first, and when they are almost ready, the garlic. Once you have added either a liquid (stock, wine, etc) or a can of crushed tomatoes, then turn your heat up to medium-high to simmer. That way you avoid bitter and burnt onions and garlic.
Also, add your fresh herbs after the onions and garlic have finished cooking and the heat is still low. Then they won't act like popcorn in your pan.

Meat:
When I tell you "about 7-9 minutes" as a cooking time, say when a pork loin is finishing up in the oven, I'm telling you what I'm doing in my kitchen in my oven, based on whatever size cut of meat I happen to have that day. Even tho every oven can be set to 425º, that does not mean that every oven is actually at 425º, and a tenderloin can vary from .75 lbs to 1.5 lbs and require very different cooking times.
Because I cook every day, I generally have a feel for when my food should be done.
And yes, on occasion, I have cursed a blue streak after discovering my psychic cooking abilities have failed me and I have to somehow salvage undercooked meat.
But for Tried-and-True cooking times, the use of an instant-read thermometer is always a safe bet. Some ovens come with probes included, but if yours does not, you can easily pick up meat thermometers at just about any store that sells kitchenware.
I got the following charts from What's Cooking America (because I'm way too lazy to retype this whole thing!) Except for my thoughts on "Well Done"*.
And remember, large roasts and birds will continue to cook for a bit once you remove them from the oven, so it's good to take them out when they are about 5-10º shy of your desired doneness.

Beef and Lamb Cooking Temperature Chart
Roasts, Steaks & Chops
Rare	120 to 125 degrees F	center is bright red, pinkish toward the exterior portion
Medium Rare	130 to 135 degrees F	center is very pink, slightly brown toward the exterior portion
Medium	140 to 145 degrees F	center is light pink, outer portion is brown
Medium Well	150 to 155 degrees F	not pink
Well Done	160 degrees F and above	steak is uniformly brown throughout *(and a waste of good meat)
Ground Meat	160 to 165 degrees F	no longer pink but uniformly brown throughout

Poultry Cooking Temperature Chart
Poultry (Chicken & Duck)	165 degrees F	cook until juices run clear
TurkeyNOTE: A 12-lb turkey can easily handle 60 to 90 minutes of resting. During that time, temperature can rise 30 degrees if not exposed to drafts.	165 degrees F	juices run clear - leg moves easily
Stuffing (cooked alone or in turkey)	165 degrees F

Pork Cooking Temperature Chart
Roasts, Steaks & Chops
Medium	140 to 145 degrees F	pale pink center
Well Done	160 degrees F and above	steak is uniformly brown throughout
Pork ribs, pork shoulders, and beef brisket	160 degrees F and above	medium to well done
Sausage (raw)	160 degrees F	no longer pink
Ham
Raw	160 degrees F
Pre-cooked	140 degrees F

For more of my Cooking Basics check back to this post.

For Knife Skills and Care, take a gander back here.

Hope this helped.

Knives

A loooooooooooooooong time ago a reader asked me about knives, and so I thought I'd better get around to that subject already!

All of my knife "skills" have been self-taught from watching the pros on TV. I still cut moderately slowly so that I do not lose any digits along the way, and I think you should too if you have any doubts, and especially if you value your fingers.
Which you really should because they are the most useful tools you have in the kitchen.

(Note: I am quite positive that even if I spent all day every day for the next decade doing nothing but prep dicing and mincing in various kitchens, I still would not be able to churn out 5 cloves of garlic sliced paper-thin WITHOUT LOOKING in 30 seconds. Mario Batali and Jamie Oliver have magic skills. I have shaky hands.)

Are those stunning or what? It's like Knife Porn. GORGEOUS!!!

Ok, so we'll start off with a few Knife Brands.

Wusthof - everyone has seen these around, and they are a highly popular brand, very well made, and available everywhere. Classics stay classic for a reason.

Chicago Cutlery - This is probably the most economical knife set you can buy. I've never held one, but they look snazzy, and for a starting-out cook probably a good bet.

Global - Japanese, with a more angled edge than German or American knives, and probably the lightest weight knives I have held. I own these knives and I LUURRVE them. (That's super love for clarification.) Their 100% steel body also means no microbes or bacteria can soak into a wooden handle and fester there. (Ick.)

Shun - These knives are fantastic for intricate work as well as every day work, but they are Big Buck$, which is why I only own a bread knife from them. But it cuts through the crustiest of breads without crushing it or turning my cutting board into a sawdust field. Covet.

Füri - all I know about these is that they make an orange handle for Rachael Ray. But their self-sharpening holder is pretty darned clever.

The bottom line is, take good care of your knives, and they should take good care of you. But if you're registering for your wedding, I'd definitely ask for a higher-end Santoku or Chef's Knife while you've got other people willing to gift them!

Maybe you won't get them from your Ex, but it's worth trying.

Knife Care

• Every day when you take out your knife to use it, you should give it a few slides on your sharpening steel. This will make the life of the edge of your knife much longer. Here is a handy article on how to properly use one.
• NEVER leave a dirty knife in the sink (CERTAINLY NOT in a sink full of water!) or on the counter. When you are done using it, wash it with mild dish soap, dry it thoroughly, and put it away safely.
• Never put away a wet knife. The moisture can get trapped in your knife block and do bad things.
• Slide knives gently into their knife blocks. No need for unnecessary nicking.
• Every few months I break out my electric knife sharpener to clean up the edges on the knives I use most, but I get A LOT of use out of my knives on a daily basis. You may not need to have your knives professionally re-sharpened for years.

Not that kind of Knife Practice!

Knife Practice

As I stated before, I will never be able to dice things at lightening speed, but my knife skills have improved with time and practice. Things to remember:

• Keep your fingertips curled in and your knuckles against the flat of your blade and you should avoid most injuries.
• DO NOT LOOK AWAY WHILE CHOPPING! If you must check on your pot of boiling water or whatever, cease to cut for those two seconds, then return. This goes for grating things on Microplanes as well. Resist the urge to multi-task. Your fingers and knuckles will thank me later.
• When chopping or dicing, etc, I always try to keep the point of my blade on the cutting board (or very close to it) and then cut through the vegetable in one smooth motion. Don't saw back and forth. If you have to do that, you haven't followed the above advice on how to take care of your blades. (Or you are slicing a big loaf of bread, in which case it's acceptable.) The straight up-and-down method of chopping seems to be reserved for knife masters like Batali and Oliver. If you're that good also, kudos to you.
• Cut things the same size whenever possible. The reason for this is not that all chefs and cooks are anal-retentive and need things geometrically pleasing. It is because when an item of food is diced into equal sizes, then those pieces will cook at the same rate. If you cut up a squash and some pieces are 3" square and some are only half an inch square, don't say "It'll all even out in the FoPro when I purée it" because you will most likely end up with a few undercooked bits instead.

Knife Types

There are so many! Cleavers, boning knives, filet knives, vegetable knives, tomato knives, chef's knives, utility knives, serrated knives, grapefruit knives...

So what do you really need in the kitchen? I think you can get along just fine with the following:

1 seven inch Santoku or Chef's Knife, for all your major dicing, slicing, and chopping needs

1 paring knife, for smaller work

1 serrated bread knife (offset or not)

1 cheese knife for soft cheeses like mozzarella (They really do make your life easier.)

Anything more is just gravy, or to be used by your sous chef.

Knife Storage
If you have especially beautiful knives, you can do that magnetic wall-mount system, but in general I prefer a knife block. It protects the blades, it protects clumsy and curious people and animals, and you know right away if something is missing.
Never, EVER, store your knives together in a drawer. The blades will nick each other causing damage, not to mention reaching into a drawer of loose knives is just foolish. 

I hope that answered a few questions! (I always try to answer any sent my way.) Good luck and happy dicing!

Q&A

In response to a comment on my last recipe - an explanation on what I mean when I write "two inches of fresh ginger, grated" etc...

When you buy fresh ginger, it looks like the knobby alien structure above. Not exactly easy to work with.

So, when I get it home, I break the whole structure down into roughly 1inch square chunks, or the size of a very large clove of garlic. You don't want to make the pieces too small because remember you'll have to hold on to it while grating it later.

Clearly images are not of what I actually do, but a decent visual guide.

Some people will say you can peel ginger with a spoon, others a regular peeler, but I just use the knife I'm chopping it up with. Use whatever method you are comfortable with.

Finally, once I have a pile of peeled ginger nuggets, I double-Ziploc-bag them and store them in the freezer (label the bag!) so the ginger lasts for months and is even easier to grate when removed frozen.

Hope that helps!

Also, for those who like ginger tea or suffer from nausea, you can easily remove one of your frozen pieces, slice it into finer discs, and simply add them to hot water for a tummy-soothing (and sinus-clearing) brew. It is also said that fresh ginger can help ward off the worst of your pollen-allergies, tho I don't know if that is from the sharpness of scent or an internal, metabolic reaction.

Try it out!

Cooking Basics

If you are a regular cook, or even an accomplished one, you can feel free to disregard this post.
I am writing this as a basic for those friends who seem to read my blog and then say that they feel that they are finally learning to cook, or who email me for specifics that I did not think to write down.
So, a few key basics.
Sit by my knee, young grasshopper, er - cooks...

EVOO:

You may see me write this all the time, but I want to specify. When I am cooking something: roasting vegetables, sautéing things, etc., I use the DeCecco brand evoo, because I find that it does not have a very strong flavor. If you were to drizzle it over a summer salad of fresh tomato and mozzarella, you would be vastly disappointed.
However, if you are serving fresh tomatoes with mozzarella, or finishing any other dish in which you want the olive oil to add to the flavors of the dish, THAT is when you use a fruity and vibrant olive oil. I like one called Olave, which I believe may actually be Chilean, by way of Bronx, NY. But I like its flavor on breads and dips and so forth. However, I learned the hard way that if you try using it to roast vegetables, your veggies will come out quite off-tasting. Avoid.

SALT:

Other than fancy finishing salts that I talked about before, there actually IS a difference between regular Morton's table salt and Kosher salt. There is a difference in texture, if nothing else. Kosher salt tends to be more coarse, and a bonus of this is that when you take a pinch to season with while you are cooking, it most likely will not stick to your fingers if they are damp. But it also means that if you were using larger amounts, more table salt would fit in 1/4 cup than Kosher. Additionally, table salt, being finer, will dissolve faster than the larger Kosher and Sea Salts. There is also the possibility of the "iodized" flavor in table salt.
It's complicated and I'm still learning about much of this myself.

Also, yes, ALWAYS salt your pasta water. And I'm not talking about a "pinch" either.

POTS:

Well this could be a hugely open-ended category. What I'm really getting at is that if you are going to cook for yourself regularly, you should have good pots. It is not worth it to buy a cheap pan for $35 if you're going to have to replace it every 3-5 years. Drop the $100 and get a lifetime-warrantee pot like an All-Clad. And then treat it well.
If it is stainless steel, use a Brillo pad every once in a while to make sure stains don't build up. And if it is non-stick, make sure you do not put it in the dishwasher, and only use wooden or silicone utensils while cooking, because you WILL mar the surface and then you've voided your warrantee and your pan will become a sticking-pan. They make things called Dobie pads that are sponges wrapped in plastic mesh that can help scrub a non-stick pan without harming it. They are also useful on enamel, such as you would find in Le Creuset Dutch/French Ovens and so forth.
But good quality pots will help you to cook better foods more reliably.
For when to use which type of pan, see below under "Chicken".
*Those are Julia Child's pots. Copper is very hard to care for for the average chef.)

INGREDIENTS:
No, you should not use the $200 bottle of wine in your bolognese. Drink that shit. And invite me over to share it with you.
 But, do not EVER use cheap booze in your food. If you would not enjoy drinking it at your leisure, then do not put it in your food. The flavor will only intensify with cooking, and you can throw your whole meal off if you use the $5 bottle of Chardonnay instead of the $15 Pinot Grigio. While I am not urging you to over-spend on all-organic, grass-fed, additive-free, bio-natural top ingredients (because really, I can't be bothered, can't afford it, and cannot always taste the difference) but I DO say that the quality of the ingredients that go into your dish will be directly proportional to the final product.

MEAT:
Always rinse your meat under cool water, and pat COMPLETELY dry. If the meat is damp, it will not brown. Also, make sure your meat is always at room temperature before it hits a hot pan. If not, your meat will seize up and be tough and once your meat has seized up and gone tough, there is really no way to salvage it that I know of. Depending on the size of the cut of meat, 15-30 minutes should be enough for the meat to warm up. If you think that is too long and you really need to get dinner started NOW, take a deep breath, pour yourself half a glass of wine, nibble on some olives or prosciutto or other typical antipasti, and sit the hell down for a few moments of calm. You will feel better when you go to cook after that anyway.

Also, always defrost meat in the refrigerator overnight. Sometimes it may take 2 days for the center of your chicken breasts to defrost all the way, depending on how cold your fridge is, so plan ahead whenever you can. Cooking semi-frozen meat never yields a good meal.
I avoid microwave defrosting at all costs. If my meat is still frozen, I will just make something else that night. If it is an emergency tho, place the meat in a bowl of COLD water in your sink, and change the water every 30 minutes until the meat has defrosted.

CHICKEN:
Yes, chicken is meat*. I just thought I'd specify a few things on cooking this bird.
*If you call yourself a vegetarian, but you still eat chicken and fish, or even just fish, you are full of sh*t. And animal meat. In that scenario, you are a person who elects not to eat red meat, whether for health reasons or just because you don't like it (Weirdo). You are still an omnivore like most people.
A vegetarian is someone who does not eat anything that ever had a pulse, or eyes to look back at you in contempt when you decided to eat it for your own survival/enjoyment. Fish counts as "animal" people. Live with it.

So chicken... I don't think I've really written this down before, so I'll so do now. For your average boneless, skinless chicken breast, the following cooking method should work for everyone.
Rinse your chicken breasts in cold water (especially if it was frozen... it will have a coating of defrost-slime.) and pat them completely dry. Season them with salt and whatever else your recipe needs. Heat oil in your pan* on medium/medium-high until the oil starts to ripple. 
*For red meat, or just fattier meats in general, any pan will do: stainless steel, cast iron, enamel, etc.. But when I am cooking chicken, I try to use my non-stick whenever possible. It means I can use less oil and I won't have to worry about the meat sticking and tearing when it is time to turn it.
Place chicken seasoned-side-down in the pan for about 7 minutes. What you are looking for is the opaque whiteness to creep up halfway to 2/3 up the side of the chicken breast. That is when you should flip the breasts, and then cook another 5-6 minutes on the other side. Your chicken should come out lightly browned and still juicy.
If your chicken breasts are especially large or plump at the fat end (bigger than your hand, palm-up, and thicker than the muscular base of your thumb in side-view) then you might have to cook them for 9 minutes on the first side, and 7 or 8 on the second. That is why I told you about the opacity factor to look for. That is really how you should judge cooking time.
Peruse this post from way-back-when for basics in amount of time to cook a roast chicken.

PRE-MADE:
I try to make many things from scratch. This includes tomato sauce (half the time), pesto, dips, salad dressings, cookies, etc.. However, things that I will absolutely take help on are things like stock and glacé, salsa, brownie and cake mixes, slow-cooked tomato-basil sauce, and some marinades (teriyaki). And many things from the store can use an extra hand from you when you get home.
Things I avoid using pre-made: lemon juice. (COME ON! Lemons are like .40¢ each. Just squeeze some fresh ones. Plus you can never get fresh zest from a plastic bottle of yellow acid.)
I also refuse to buy any type of pre-made mashed potato, potato flake, stuffed potato, etc. They are going to have additives as well as 5X as much fat/cream/butter as you would put in making them yourself. And they will probably take as long in the oven as it would take you to boil some potatoes on the stove.

SETTING THINGS ON FIRE:

Ok, so this may not be a "basic" action for most cooks. At least not intentionally setting things on fire. But if you should have the desire to make something fancy that requires alcohol in a pan + fire, here are important rules:
Never pour the booze directly from the bottle. The fire can, however rarely, ignite straight back into the bottle and then you have a giant molotov cocktail in your hands and kitchen. The smart thing to do is to measure out your booze in a shot glass or measuring cup, and then add it (carefully, no sloshing) that way. If you're really worried, take the pan off the flame, add the alcohol, and then place it back on the burner. Also, when I light it, I use one of those long-necked kitchen safety lighters. Mostly because when I try that nifty "tip the pan to ignite" move, all I do is slosh my sauce all over the stovetop.

I may write a "Cooking Basics Part 2" if I think of enough other legitimate tips, but for now, I hope that I have helped a few people.
Any in-depth questions can always be emailed to me at rocknrollgourmet@gmail.com.

Get cookin'!