The Chef Within

I’m sure most everyone has had the chance to catch a glimpse of the different programs on the  food channel. It’s especially fun to watch chefs cut vegetables at lightning speed. They always appear so confident and the agility between the hand and knife is equally impressive.  What you don’t see is what they place underneath the cutting board, before the show, that makes the process a whole lot safer.

There should always be a wet rag between the board and your counter. They taught us that at Cordon Bleu and all professional cooks take the same precaution.  You take a dishrag or a small hand towel, run it under water, ring it out and lay it out it underneath the board. Once the board is set on top of it, it won’t move.  Most of the time we just set the board directly on the counter and of course the second we begin cutting - the board starts to slide.  That can be dangerous. Putting a wet rag between the counter and the board holds the board in place by creating an immobile cutting surface and one that’s much safer to cut on.

Now, placing a rag under the board is not a guarantee that all your cutting troubles will end. You also need a good, sharp knife. This should be a chef’s knife and it should be used correctly. Next time you’re catching a cooking program, watch the chef’s fingers carefully. They use a technique where they tuck their fingertips back and use their knuckle as a guide.  It’s something you should try.  It takes a little practice but it is well worth the effort.

Here’s something that can change your life or at least improve your attitude about cooking.  I believe one of the most important things you can do for yourself, in the kitchen, is maintain an on-going grocery list.  Let me tell you how this works.

I consider myself a fairly organized person.  I never shop without a list.  In the past, I used to make a grocery list right before going to the market.  I’d look through the fridge and cupboards, jotting down the things I was out of.  If you make a list that way, it’s not good enough.

When you make a list, at the last minute, there are always items you’ve run out of during the week, but won’t remember when making the list.  It’s really frustrating.  And you’ll go to the market with that last minute list, but in the back of your mind you’ll be thinking, “what was it that I needed?”  And then when you come home from your shopping it will finally dawn on you and if it was important enough it will mean another trip to the store.  Don’t you hate that?  Doesn’t that take the fun out of cooking, assuming it was fun to begin with?

The solution to this problem lies in a 3×5 card and a pencil.  Take a 3×5 card and tape it inside your most-used kitchen cabinet.  If it’s taped inside the door, it doesn’t show. 

Inside the cabinet you must also keep a pen.  That is very important.  The pen needs to be close to the card and it should never leave the cabinet.  Don’t remove it even for an emergency.  The kitchen cabinet must be its permanent home.

As you’re cooking during the week and use up the last drop of vanilla, you open the cabinet and write down vanilla.  If you run out of toilet paper, go to the cabinet and put it on your list.  If you’re browsing through recipes and need certain ingredients, add them to your cabinet list.  If you do this consistently you will never come home from the grocery store, kicking yourself for having forgotten an item.  The list is the memory.

This technique can be taken a step further by carrying a card with you to work.  If during the course of the day you think of something you need, write it down and then consolidate the two lists before shopping.  When you’re ready to go to the store, remove the list from the cabinet and immediately replace the old card with a new one and start the process all over.

You owe it to yourself to try this.  It will save you time and money.  And it’ll change your attitude about the kitchen.  I promise.

When a recipe calls for part of a can of tomato paste what happens to the rest?  Typically the rest of the paste gets thrown away or it gets stored in the fridge until mold developes around the edges and then it’s thrown away.  On rare occassion we might find a use for it. 

One suggestion might be to take the unused portion and transfer it to a heavy duty ziploc bag or a small airtight container.

That’s easily done by cutting out the bottom of the can…

And then pushing that bottom lid into the can…

and pushing the paste into the ziploc or other container. 

Then flatten the paste with your fingers so it will freeze and thaw quickly.

Label the bag and then take it to the freezer.  It might be helpful to designate an area of the freezer for small packages such as this.  

Next time you need a small amount of paste go to your freezer and if you allow it to thaw for a few minutes on the counter or if you defrost it slightly in the microwave you’ll be able to measure the quantity needed for your cooking and nothing will ever be wasted.

If you are looking for places to use tomato paste you might add the extra to your next batch of spaghetti sauce or meat sauce for lasagne.  The paste also makes a good spread for pizza base when used in conjunction with some herbs and fresh onions and garlic.  Add some paste to a pasta dish or give a vinaigrette dressing a tomato flavor.  Include some paste into a soup for a richer broth or supplement canned tomato soup with the extra tomato product. 

Note that tomato paste is concentrated tomato sauce so if you add water to the paste you create the thinner sauce.  Thinking in those terms might stimulate some other ideas for use.  If you make salsa, use the paste to thicken the mixture.  Add it to enchilada sauce or taco meat filling.  Include some in your meatloaf, either inside or on top.

There really should be no reason to waste any portion of that can.

I am very frugal, especially when it comes to food and cooking.  I can’t bring myself to buy beautiful food storage containers when plenty of containers are already available.  Perhaps I shouldn’t  divulge my true colors but pictured below is my drawer of containers for food.  It consists of used and reused food containers from the market.  It may look like a jumbled mess but in truth it’s quite practical.  Inside the drawer are matching tops and bottoms.

Every month or so I go through the drawer and match bottoms with lids. 

Once things are sorted through the worthy containers return to the drawer for further use.   The containers must have a matching top and bottom to be worthy of this drawer.

Cooking is all about practicality and convenience and so if I don’t have a matching lid for something then it’s time to retire the container and take it outside to the recycling bin. 

Leftovers from meals go in these containers and are taken to work.  At the end of the day the top rack of my dishwasher is always full of containers that were used for lunch.

If there is a downside to these containers it might be that they aren’t transparent; the contents can’t be seen.  Over the years I have learned to organize my fridge in such a way that I put like items on the same shelf which makes identification easier.   Sounds silly but I love my container drawer!  I feel good reusing what can be reused and when I need to send someone home with food I never have to worry about getting the container back.  The whole concept suits me.