cooking tips

Chef's tips...

Mushrooms freeze well. Wash quickly, dry, then put them, sliced or un-sliced, in a plastic bag and freeze. Use them without defrosting. In any cooked dish, they will taste exactly like fresh mushrooms.

To keep celery crisp, stand it up in a tall glass bowl of cold, salted water and refrigerate.

Foods that will not render any juices during cooking, like vegetables, can go directly into the steamer. It's best to keep most foods an inch or so from the steamer sides. You can use water to steam, but also broth, beer, wine or other herb-infused liquids. There is a risk when steaming ingredients that take a long time (e.g., artichokes) that all of the water will evaporate during cooking. To make sure this doesn't happen: add 2 to 3 marbles to the bottom of your pot. They will clatter until the water is gone; silence means its time to add more water. Try steaming new potatoes with rosemary, as a change from roasting them.

Making a Roux. You need 2 tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoons flour.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a heavy-bottomed pan over low heat. When the butter begins to foam, sprinkle in the flour. Whisk in the flour. Reduce the heat. Continue to whisk the flour and cook slowly until the flour and butter froth or foam. Turn off the heat just before the butter turns color, about 1 minute. The roux should be cooked slowly and evenly. If the flour burns, it won't thicken the sauce as it will have a burned flavor. Although the technique is the same for making a white and brown roux, there are differences. A white roux does not have any color, so it will not darken the sauce it is used in. It is used for Sauce Béchamel or Velouté. A brown roux has an even, nut-brown color, which it acquires because the butter and flour are cooked longer, about 5 minutes. It is used in many brown sauces.
The job of roux in a sauce is to add thickening and, in some cases, flavor to a sauce or gravy. It is made with equal volumes of flour and butter or oil, which are cooked together slowly for several minutes. Cooking removes the raw, starchy taste of uncooked flour and makes the flour ready to absorb the liquid that will be added for the sauce.

To keep eggs fresh, always store them with the large ends up. To determine whether an egg is fresh, place it in a bowl of salted, cool water. If it sinks, it's fresh; if it floats, throw it out.

When beating egg whites, add a small amount of acid-such as lemon juice, vinegar, or cream of tartar this will allow the egg whites to reach full volume and stiffness.

If you've oversalted a dish, drop in a peeled potato to absorb the excess salt. Be sure to remove the potato before serving.

To ensure a cake is baked in the centre without the bottom being burnt. Place the cake pan on a thin layer of coarse salt on top of a baking sheet.

How to prevent frying odours. Throw a sprig of parsley into your frying oil when it starts to heat up to keep frying odours from filling your house.

Chilling chicken stock overnight makes degreasing a cinch because the fat solidifies on top. But you can also proceed with a recipe right after making the stock. While people have been known to use a paper towel, a slice of bread, or ice cubes to collect the fat, our favorite methods involve either a zip-top plastic bag or a fat-separator cup. The cup is made of inexpensive plastic or glass with a spout at the base. When you pour out the stock, the fat floating on top stays behind. The bag works similarly. Pour stock into bag; let stand 10 minutes (fat will rise to the top). Seal bag; carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of bag. Drain stock into a container, stopping before fat layer reaches opening; discard fat.

Please check back regularly for more of Chef John’s tips and discover the Marmion difference.