How-to's for those "duh" items!

Its funny, i remember when i first started in my intro I class, I was rather agravated at what were learning. At first, LOTS of time spent in class just cutting up carrots and potatoes! NOT for consumption, but to hone our knife cuts. And lets not forget that week where all we made was stuff like rice pilaf, blanched broccoli, hard boiled eggs, chicken stock.. i mean i wanted to do what they were doing on "top chef", i wanted to play up with new flavors and ingredients. Now that I am almost nearing the end of my formal cooking classes (because after Garde Manger, I go to international, and then its "restaurant rotation" where i work for a few weeks at the school's bistro), I realize just how those intro I classes were. I mean they are basic things, and surprisingly, most people (culinary students aside although many forget these basics as well and are guilty of this too) do these "duh" items incorrectly. so i thought I'd go back to my Intro I lessons and review with you some items you should know how to do properly. mind you, many people do things differently and if it works your way, great, but its good to know these "core" techniques.

HOW TO:

-Boil Rice: Its different but each kind of rice has a standard. Long grain white rice is 1/2 cup rice to 1 cup water. Ive read some packages that say to boil the water first, but don't do this, i dont know why but my rice never turns out nice this way. I usually "pearlize" the rice with a bit of olive oil on low heat and then add my water. Bring to a boil and once boil cover and put in a bay leaf and seasoning and pop a lid on it and put it in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 min. Once you get it out of the oven, fight the temptation to open the lid, let it rest off the heat for 10 min. The you can fluff with fork and i promise, perfect rice! Jasmine rice works a bit differently (but I LOVE jasmine rice so to me, this is important) there is no exact ration, but you simply cover the rice in the pot by 3/4 of an inch and bring to a boil uncovered. then pop on a lid and on a very low heat, let it simmer for about 20. Take off the heat (again, no peaking!) and let it rest for 10. Like with meats and even cookies and cakes, rice needs its rest after its been in the heat.

-Hard Boil an Egg: i love hard boiled eggs and i make it a lot in batched so i always have a few ready on hand. There are loads of ways I've seen people do it but here the way we were taught (i find it the most effective for not overcooking the yolk so it turns green). simply place egg in water unboiled water and let it come to a boil and boil for 8 min and done!

-Poach an Egg: this bit me in the ass when i took my Baking I class because we had a "pop quiz" where we all had to make two poached eggs with hollandaise. like hard-boiled eggs, people over the years came up with little tricks and what not for the the perfect shape, there are even cute egg poachers in nifty stores like bed and bath. But here's the old school way: add regular distilled vinegar to your water or poaching liquid (it helps keep it together) and bring to an almost boil (you don't want a full on boil because it'll break up the structure of the egg). It sounds theoretically appealing that if you stir the water rapidly to create a vortex in the middle of the pot, and you crack an egg into that vortex, it will magically wrap the whites around the yolk. It rarely works this way, though.Once the egg is in the pot, you can shape it a bit using a spoon or spatula. This definitely helps to rein in the loose bits. It's not going to transform a totally incoherent egg into a beautifully contained one, but it can make some difference.
fish out with a slotted spoon and i like to let it rest over some paper towels because it'll still have a fair amount of water on it thus making your English muffin or plate watery.

-Blanch veggies: Many SO many people screw this up. in boiling water dump your veggies. if its leafy like greens, almost immediately fish out and shock in an ice bath (i cant stress this shocking step enough! it will over cook if you leave it). broccoli, green beans, and cauliflower take about min and then shock, carrots can be left for about 2 min. it might seem like little time but i get over steamed veggies in restaurants and people's house all the time. I dont like it raw (unless intentional, of course) but you do want so snap. Unless its meant to be pureed or for baby food, it should not be uber soft it practically melts in your mouth.

-Sear meat: even if your baking meat in the oven, it often wise to sear because it adds color (for appearance) and seals in juices. You do need so sort of fat (you can go healthy like me and use canola, olive or sesame oil, or go French and use butter, or go american and use crisco, or if your really gutsy, go with lard). You dont need a lot of fat but a little. heat the fat FIRST and do the sizzle test (drop or water in the fat pool, if it reacts immediately, its ready for the meat). sear all side evenly, dont walk away and change the TV channel or answer the phone, it easy to over cook meat which if you ask me is more serious of a crime than overcooked veggies.

there you have it, some simple "duh" moves you may have been doing differently, but try the old school approach.