I read an article yesterday about “seventeen mistakes you are making when you cook” and found, of course, that I was making none of them. I also found that I was avoiding some of those mistakes for all of the wrong reasons, but reasons don't affect the taste of dinner.
The first one was that you should not thaw a frozen steak before cooking it, and I’m okay in that one, but not because I cook steaks in the frozen state. Some foods can be frozen successfully and some cannot, and steak is in the latter category. If you freeze a steak it will have the texture of old boiled cannibal no matter how you cook it, so you might as well not waste time thawing it. Damn thing will be inedible in any case.
The second one suggests that you are not adequately draining your tofu before cooking it and I either pass that test or flunk it completely depending on your definition. I am not draining my tofu at all because I’m not buying any tofu. I will not allow tofu within 100 yards of my kitchen.
Another suggestion was that you’re putting too much milk in your scrambled eggs; that you should add only a little bit of milk. I sort of flunked that one because I don’t add any milk when I scramble eggs. Adding milk to scrambled eggs is barbaric.
The last suggestion which I’m going to address was that canned tomatoes work better than fresh ones when making Marinara. I pass that test; not because I knew they work better, but because I’ve always been too lazy to use fresh ones. Peeling tomatoes is a pain in the ass. Now I can make sauce with a glow of righteousness.
They did not point out, though, that those canned tomatoes need to be simmered for a fair length of time, at least 40 minutes or so, to get the canned taste out of them.
Yes, you fairly reek of the glow of righteousness...
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, frozen steak? I've seen recipies that call for cooking it that way. Never tried it, and I won't hold my breath that I will, but I will say that other things freeze better.
Tofu is not really my thing, but I have used it (extra firm only) and yes I drain it, and press it to release moisture out of it. Talk to Barbara, she uses it.
I've used water, milk, half and half, cream in my scrambled eggs, and of course, nothing. Except salt and pepper. Goes without saying...
I usually use canned tomatoes in sauce, sometimes add a few fresh ones, and no I don't peel them. After they've cooked down, the peels are gone, so who cares?