Tips for Home Cooks Part 2--Better fried chicken, use of vinegar, home made mac n' cheese, pizza dough at home, leftover mashed potatoes, etc.

This is my second installment in a short list of tips for home cooks who want to put in a little extra effort and learn some quick little items to enhance their technique if you haven't already figured some of this out.  I read a lot of cookbooks and food magazines but I am constantly humbled by what I don't know.

I hope this is helpful for a few of you out there!

*Better fried chicken--I have always struggled with making great fried chicken at home, but today I tested out a technique I saw on some food show that really helps.  I don't have a deep fryer, but this worked fine in a pan with a half inch of canola oil.  My kids were starving, so I didn't even use my usual bone-in chicken; we sliced up the dreaded boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead!  (I just prefer bone-in almost all the time).

The key was to soak the cutlets in milk, dip in a flour mix ("Frying Magic" brand works fine if you don't want to mix your own), and then DIP A SECOND TIME IN MILK, then sprinkle on my flour mix.  Simple adjustment but the results were so much better.

*Vinegar--this is a tiny thing I read from one of Michael Ruhlman's incredible books; you can see his site by clicking here.  He's a great teacher.  The idea is to simply splash a tiny amount of vinegar into a soup to brighten up all the flavors.  Trust me, it works.  A teaspoon is often sufficient for a home cook's pot.  Chili recipes often use vinegar, so why not soups?  I like apple cider vinegar for many uses, and rice wine vinegar is an obvious component for Asian dishes.

*Home made mac n' cheese--I still enjoy the boxed stuff once in a long while, but making home made mac n' cheese is awesome and my kids love it.  You can search for recipes, but my basic plan includes a roux (butter & flour), then becomes a Bechamel when cream or milk is whisked in, then a rich cheese sauce when you fold in great shredded cheddar, gruyere, or whatever you prefer.  Then, fold in al dente elbow macaroni with a bit of salt and the secret ingredient--ground dry mustard.  Just a bit.  Then bake it with good breadcrumbs on top.  If you don't have time, skip the baking and it will still be superior to the blue box stuff. Optional ingredients include bits of cooked bacon or onion.

*See my recent pizza dough post on this!  Very worth the time and mess.

*Leftover mashed potatoes--again, see my new post on this.

*Squeeze lemon juice (from actual lemons) on veggies, grilled meat, etc.  Squeeze lime juice on your tacos and use real corn tortillas (fry them quickly on each side for maximum flavor).

Have fun and go the extra step to enjoy great food at home!

Easy and Fun Home Made Pizza Dough That Kids Will Love to Make

It's really worth the effort to make your own pizza dough from scratch and then load up on various toppings to make your own awesome pizza at home.  It's tastier and less greasy than many delivery joints, and kids will enjoy making their own.

Here my daughter and I made pizza dough from a simple water, dry yeast, and flour dough.  Don't forget a pinch of salt because it enhances any dough or home made bread.

The other key thing in our opinion is to mix cheeses--don't just use shredded mozzarella; be sure to at least add some shredded Parmesan, but you can test out goat cheese, Romano, etc.  The richness of the other cheese is what makes a good pizza stand out vs. something simple.

In this photo, we have a pizza with only a simple light spread of tomato paste, some sauteed button mushroom slices, and the aforementioned mozzarella/Parmesan blend.  Finally, be sure to sprinkle on some dried oregano, something I learned making pizza bread at a small family sub sandwich shop in high school! For my own part of the pizza, I will drizzle on olive oil and a dash of red pepper flakes.

These are just tips; for a full starter recipe I would recommend this one from Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis.  You'll get the hang of it and it becomes easier over time and is totally worth the effort!

Tips for Home Cooks--Roasting Chicken, Curing Salmon at Home, etc.

In the last few years I've been doing a lot of reading about cooking and have improved a lot of things in my home cooking.  I humbly present my first set of tips for home cooks who want some simple ways to boost what they can do, some of which I've already posted about (see the links highlighted):

• Roast a chicken every week, enjoy it with sides and maybe a gravy from the drippings, and use the extra meat for either a chicken noodle soup or shred the leftover meat for a taco filling.  Substitute rotisserie chicken from a store if easier.

• Use leftover french bread that is getting a little stale by chopping it up and tossing it like crutons in a salad with vinegarette, or use the chunks to thicken a soup.  Even simply heating up chicken broth with some leftover bread will warm you up and be an easy snack.

• Pat dry sea scallops for sauteeing, otherwise they won't sear and just poach lamely in all the water they release upon cooking. 

• Saute onions!  Just slice white or yellow onions thinly and saute them in olive oil until the have a nice mix of carmelization and sweetness while retaining a bit of crunch.  Use medium to high heat but reduce before burning them.  With some experience this can become the number one topping for your burgers and chicken breast sandwiches. 

• Cure your own salmon--buy a good, fresh piece and rub a mix of salt and brown sugar all over it, then rub in a splash of rum or whiskey.  Wrap it tight and in two days you'll have a delicious filet you can thinly slice into lox.  Place it atop a traditional bagel & cream cheese, or go for a BLA--bagel, lox, and avocado (mash avocado and lemon juice as a topping, and add slices of tomato and red onion to complete it)