Get Cooking_ 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen - Mollie Katzen [6]
Vinegars: Store these in your cupboard (they keep indefinitely): cider vinegar; a decent, moderately priced balsamic; red wine vinegar; seasoned rice vinegar (make sure the label says “seasoned”). From there, you can experiment with fancier varieties, such as sherry, raspberry, and so on.
Pomegranate molasses: This sweet-tart-tangy syrup made from reduced pomegranate juice is available at Middle Eastern food shops and in the imported foods section of many grocery stores. It keeps forever in your cupboard, and a little bit goes a long way, adding flavor and bright color to Middle Eastern dishes and all kinds of other foods, from salads and grilled chicken to yogurt and cheese.
Dried fruit: Keep a supply of dried apricots, prunes, figs, dates, cherries, cranberries, and blueberries (as well as other, more exotic dried fruit, such as pears, papayas, and chili-dusted mango) on hand to liven up salads, grains, entrées, and desserts.
“Designer” salts: Fancy salts harvested from the sea and mined from the land are becoming more popular all the time. As an alternative to ordinary table salt, kosher salt has a pure, clean flavor and somewhat coarse grains, and it’s a great multipurpose choice that goes anywhere, including the rim of a margarita glass. Sea salt tends to have a more assertive flavor than kosher salt and can be fine or coarse. Specialty salts, like fleur de sel, gray salt, black salt, and pink salt, tend to have a coarse, crunchy texture, which makes them a good choice for “finishing”—that is, sprinkling on dishes like salads or vegetables at the very last minute, so their texture and intense hit of saltiness stand out. Then there are flavor-infused options, like smoked salts and truffle salts. And of course, there’s only one way to know which of any of these you’ll like: buy a few and start experimenting.
Get Preppy
Most cooking involves an initial preparation phase, in which you cut stuff up. Check out the prep videos at get-cooking.com for quick lessons in the best way to handle most vegetables. And in the meantime, on Get Cooking is a quick reference guide to basic prep techniques you’ll be using to make the recipes in this book.
VEGETABLE CHOPPING GUIDE
As you become increasingly comfortable and adept at chopping, cooking will feel more and more fluid, like a dance. (Go ahead and put on some music!) Be sure to use a very sharp knife (see Get Cooking), go slow, and pay careful attention while you work. (Don’t try to motor your way through at the speed of light, as some of the cool chefs seem to do on TV. Please!) Always maneuver whatever item you are cutting into the most stable position on the cutting board (for example, flat side down after an initial cut—or just plain hold it very steady with your noncutting hand), in order to keep things safe. (An escaping morsel can lead to your slicing your hand instead!) For vegetables not covered in this guide, use the same principles as those on the following pages. This process will become familiar to you soon enough. Have fun!
BELL PEPPER Cut in half lengthwise • Cut out and discard stem, seeds, and inner membranes • Slice lengthwise into strips (thicker for diced; thinner for minced) • Cut across the strips to dice or mince
BROCCOLI Cut off and discard base (bottom inch or so) • Use peeler to shave tough skin from remainder of stem • Cut on slight diagonal into stalks and florets • For chopped broccoli, cut across stalks and florets into smaller pieces
CARROT Peel • Cut off and discard stem end • Cut across into 2-inch sections • Slice sections lengthwise into flat, wide pieces • Slice each piece lengthwise into strips • Cut across the strips to dice
…and this is how to just plain slice one
GARLIC Separate bulb into cloves • Lay clove on its side and smack with side of knife to loosen skin • Remove and discard skin • Slice into thin strips and then cut across the strips (and/or every which way) to mince
GINGER Scrape off and discard skin •