Tami's Tips and Tricks

Cutting and Using Fresh Pineapple

2010-05-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

For the longest time I would shy away from recipes that called for fresh pinapple. I don't know why it intimidated me for so long, but I just thought it was more work that it was worth and defaulted to the canned version whenever possible.

Oh...I missed out on so much goodness all these years. Fresh is BEST and so easy now that I learned a few tricks. So here it is...my step by step pictorial of cutting fresh pineapple to use in all kinds of recipes.

First...it is important to pick the right one.

While fresh pineapple is available year round, you have to be careful when selecting ripe fruit for purchase because once off the tree, the starch will not turn into sugar. Choose a pineapple that is plump and slightly soft to the touch. The stem end should have a sweet aroma. Fresh, deep green leaves are a good sign. Store whole ripe fruit in the fridge for up to 3 days. Once cut, tightly sealed pineapple can remain in the fridge for 3 more days.

So let's get cutting.

First, cut off the top and bottom ends...

Now you can easily cut off the tough and prickly skin by standing the fruit up on its end and carefully slicing down all sides of the pineapple.

Depending on how close you cut into the fruit, and how you are going to use it, you may want to use a small knife or even a melon baller to dig out any of the 'eyes' remaining on the sides. (I didn't do this...so no pics!)

Next step is to get rid of the core. I have an apple corer that works beautifully and highly recommend this tool as a kitchen staple...

It comes right out!

At this piont, you can slice the pineapple into rings for all kinds of use. (if you did not have a corer, then after slicing into rings, cut out the core with a knife from each individual ring. However...this reminds me why I was so intimidated by the thought of using fresh pineapple all those years...so I recommend the apple corer. Just do it...pick one up the next time you are at the store *wink*)

As for fresh pineapple rings, my favorite use is to throw them on the grill for a side dish or dessert!

I highly recommend marinating them in some Homemade Gourmet Spiced Dip first, to give them an extra sweet glaze. Toss these over a bowl of vanilla ice cream and let the moaning begin. Yah...that good!

But let's not forget that pineapple is often needed in chunks, so back to our pineapple cutting lesson!

If you don't want rings, cut the pineapple in half, then half that and then half that (half/ quarter/ eighth), like this....

And then just cut them into the little chunks you'd find in the less desirable canned version...

(AGAIN...if you don't have that handy apple corer...which isn't my fault cause I told you to go get one *grin*...you will need to cut out the core. Just as in the rings, you can slice the core off by running the knife down the inside of the quartered or eighthed sections)

Many times, I just need a portion of the pineapple, so I will store the remainder in the largest portions possible to give me flexibility to cut it a different way for another day. It will store up to 3 days in a sealed container...

So that's it! Fresh Pineapple...Fast and Easy! What will you do with yours?

Sweet Potato Preparation

2009-12-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

I love mashed sweet potatoes. They are full of vitamns and an excellent replacement for a side dish of regular mashed potatoes. However, they don't make it to my dinner table if I they take to long to prepare. My solution...

Steam them! In about 15 minutes, I can have warm mashed sweet potatoes on the table with any entree I want to pair them with.

Wash and peel your potatoes and then dice them into small cubes (the larger they are, the longer they take to get tender...so make them about an inch or smaller in size)

Put the cubed sweet potatoes into a microwavable steamer bag and microwave on high for about 10 minutes (maybe less / maybe more...try your microwave to get the exact timing)

When they are done, they will be fork tender and you can mash them right in the bag!

Ummmmm....ya. I like my mashed sweet potatoes with butter and brown sugar! I add it to the steamer bag so I can mash them all at the same time. Then I pour them out into a serving bowl if I want to set a pretty table. Otherwise, I place them out to be served right out of the bag (who needs more dirty dishes!)

Storing Fresh Herbs

2009-12-05T11:27:00.000-08:00

Fresh Herbs are just like fresh flowers. They need water to live longer! So storing fresh herbs is a easy as cutting the ends and placing in about an inch of water.

This is some parsley and cilantro...2 of my favorite things to keep on hand all the time. However, I have lots of hands moving things in and out of the fridge, so open containers with water are an accident waiting to happen! So.... I put my herbs in containers with lids.

These are great for travel too. If you are taking a dish to a potluck or party and want to garnish with fresh herbs, you can put them on at the last minute to avoid wilting. These will keep for long periods of time. I carry fresh herbs like this to demonstrations I do for a local morning news show. One trip I forgot to unload my herbs from the car to return to the fridge. It was over 24 hours and they were just as fresh as these when I finally pulled them out to refrigerate again.

Chopping an Onion

2009-11-23T22:10:00.000-08:00

If you want to know how to dice an onion with a knife, then google 'how to chop and onion' and you'll find all kinds of instructions. But since my "Tips" section is designed to tell you what I think is the 'best' way to do things, I have to tell you that this gadget is the answer!

I found it at a cooking store, but see it all over the place (stores and internet). So next time you see one, GET IT! (I should sell these things!)

You just put a portion of an onion onto the cutting grate. You can do thick slices or even quarters. Then 'SLAM' the lid down till it closes tight.

Your onion is now chopped in small dices!

And the container tells you when you have reached your measured portion..
I have 1/2 a cup here.

THIS IS NOT JUST FOR ONIONS!
I have chopped potatoes (great for hash browns!), potatoes and even carrots with this. I love this chopper and you will too!

Slicing and Steaming Small Potatoes

2009-10-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

Baby potatoes, new potatoes and fingerling potatoes have such great color and variety of flavors that I love to use them as sides quite often. Adding different Homemade Gourmet seasonings mixes it up from meal to meal and they are super fast when steamed in the microwave.

Here is a great tip for cutting them in half for easy cooking / steaming.

You will need 2 plastic lids of the same size.

I am using lids from large yogut containers here, but you could use lids from large butter tubs or even storage containers from your pantry.

They just need to be the same size and have a flat interior surface. Place potatoes of similar size on the inside of one of the lids, filling up the lid with as many potatoes as you can, and place the matching lid on top of the potatoes (as show in this next picture)

Press down slightly on the top lid to hold the potatoes firmly in place and using a sharp knife, slice through one side all the way to the other side.
Remove the top lid and you have a handful of potatoes

perfectly and evenly halved!

These are great for tossing into a skillet with some olive oil and seasonings, or even faster, put into a microwavable steamer bag, steam about 7 minutes, toss with olive oil or butter and sprinkle with seasoning.

Fast and Fabulous Side dish idea!

How to Easily Dice and Avocado

2009-10-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

I was blog hopping today and found a great tutorial on dicing an avocado. This is one of the tips I've wanted to post for some time now, but I never have that second person at home to take the pics at the same time I had a ripe avocado...so I'm linking this great posting to my tips page for your education! Enjoy the great commentary and recipe while you are there. Thanks Laura for sharing your skills and talents with us!

Click here for the link

Cooking Ground Beef in Bulk

2009-10-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

I prefer steaming ground beef when bulk cooking. Using a large spaghetti pot, put about an inch of water in the base and place the pasta basket into the base. Fill the basket with 5 pounds of ground beef. Cover and bring the water to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. This will create steam that will cook the meat in the baskets. Stir the meat occasionally until it is no longer pink in the middle. The more you stir it, the more fine the ground beef will break up. When the meat is no longer pink, it is done. The fat will have dripped down into the boiling water so the meat will not need to be drained.

Some spaghetti pots can hold as much as 10 pounds of ground beef. If yours will hold it, go ahead and cook 10 pounds instead of 5!

Let the meat cool and then scoop it into freezer bags. Divide it into 1 pound portions and place in quart sized freezer bags. Two heaping measuring cups equals about 1 pound cooked ground meat.

Label and freeze for easy additions to soups, sauces, stews and casseroles.

The ground beef I buy at our local Walmart comes in these black plastic tubs. They are great for storing the 1# bags of cooked ground beef in your freezer. Just slide it out and take what you need.

Slicing Cherry or Grape Tomatoes

2009-08-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

I love to use cherry and grape tomatoes in salads, pastas and other fresh recipes, but slicing them in half one at a time was always so time consuming. Not anymore! Here is a great tip I learned from the Rachel Ray Show.

You will need 2 plastic lids of the same size. I am using lids from large yogut containers here, but you could use lids from large butter tubs or even storage containers from your pantry. They just need to be the same size and have a flat interior surface.
Place the tomatoes on the inside of one of the lids, filling up the lid with as many tomatoes as you can, and place the matching lid on top of the tomatoes (as show in this next picture).

Press down slightly on the top lid to hold the tomatoes firmly in place and using a sharp knife, slice through one side all the way to the other side.

Remove the top lid and you have a handful of cherry or grape tomatoes perfectly and evenly sliced! Ready for any salad, pasta or pizza dish you want to place them on. OR...just top with a little S&P and serve just as they are. Yum!!

Tami