Restaurant Widow

More FoodSaver Freezer Tips

I haven't done any freezer/FoodSaver tips in awhile, so I thought it was high time.  First of all, if you've been buying those expensive pre-made brand name bags, you might be interested in trying out some of these bags I found online - just call me your guinea pig.  I bought these bags from an online store called The Sweet Attack - they did not pay me or give me any free product to pimp them - yet, haha - , I just thought I'd pass the tip along), and the shipping was very fast.  The savings are about 15 - 17 cents per bag, which really adds up when you're buying them by the 50s or 100s.  Just thought I'd give them a shout out, since I really love using the pint bags, and the cost for those especially can add up.  The bags work just as well as the brand names; they do feel a little softer after boiling than the brand names, but they are still safe for boiling.  I haven't tried to reuse any of them, because that just isn't how I roll.  Maybe someone else has and they'll be able to offer some advice.

Okay, so first of all, here's a few tips for saving stock; I had been freezing the stock in blocks, and then removing the blocks and putting them in bags.  This worked fine, but if you don't want to spring for the silicone baking pans I used (they are multi purpose, so if you're doing a lot of baking, it really isn't that big of an investment) or you just want to skip a step, here's what I did when freezing my turkey stock.

1. As always - write on the bag with a Sharpie first: the date, the item, and sometimes I'll also write the amount.  For instance, I froze 10 kilos of chocolate buttons earlier this year, so I measured them into 12 ounce portions so that when I went to use them, I wouldn't have to re-measure.  This time, I used a measuring cup to portion out the stock into 1 cup, 2 cup, and 4 cup measurements.  Now I can grab a 4 cup for risotto-making, 1 cup for soup just for me, etc.
2. Roll down the top of the bag (this will keep the top of the bag dry, ensuring a better seal).
3. Using a 1 cup measuring cup, pour desired amount of stock (or other liquid) into the bag.  Roll the top up.
4. Carefully place bag upright in a loaf pan or another narrow, high-sided pan or pot.  If the container is too big for the bag to stand upright, place a canned good next to the bag as a prop until you have enough bags in the container to hold each other up:
5. Place the container of bags into the freezer and freeze for a few hours, or until they are frozen.
6. Vacuum seal each bag of frozen stock and store in freezer for up to 6 months!

See that?  Easy as pie!  Or stock, or whatever.  Now, how about making some stock?

Of related interest on Restaurant Widow:
In which I purchase the FoodSaver & giant freezer.
In which we freeze veggies.
In which we make & freeze veggie stocks.

FoodSaver & Freezer Tips, Part One::Veggies

So, I'm impressed that I have such vast, sweeping influence that lots of you have e-mailed to tell me I inspired you to buy your own vacuum sealer!  (click here for the original post. And I just outed myself for re-using pictures, SORRY!!)  Why aren't more companies sending me free things!? (just kidding, sort of).  A lot of you have e-mailed to ask me what I'm doing with mine, etc.  Just for the record, I purchased this model at Costco for $140, which seems like a great all-around model.  There are some cheaper, and some more expensive.  I would definitely recommend something with a "pulse" mode.

First of all, I'll tell you this: lots and lots of restaurants use vacuum sealers for practically everything.  Of course, they have a giant, powerful one which wouldn't fit on even the biggest kitchen counter top and will seal anything, no matter how liquidy.  And costs thousands of dollars (like, say, $6000).  For the rest of us, we have our own smaller version which can be a little tricky but, I still think, is worth it, especially if you are concerned about where your local food is going to come from in the wintertime.  It's so much easier than canning, and I think the results are much better, at least for vegetables.  I don't think anyone things canned sweet peas are a good idea, even if Saveur did have them as one of their 100 things this year, a travesty for which I will never forgive them. I think I've figured out the vegetable portion, although I have to admit I haven't yet tested how long to boil my veggies in the bag when I take them out of the freezer.  Maybe that's something fun for next week.  To thaw or not to thaw?  That will be the question.

I am not a professional food putter-asider, just for the record.  If you think any of my suggestions are faulty, or would just like some validation or other questions answered, I highly recommend the Pick Your Own website, which I've been relying on for years.  They have a treasure-trove of information, which will guide you all the way from the farm to the kitchen, with recipes for canning, jelly-making, and everything else you can imagine.  Bookmark them.

Here are my general guidelines for processing vegetables:

1. If applicable, trim your vegetables - take the ends of green beans, cut florets from broccoli, etc.  If you are doing corn, simply shuck the corn and remove as much silk as possible, but don't cut the kernels from the cobs (it's much easier after a little soak).  Save all of your trimmings!!
2. Clean your sink really, really well - maybe even apply a weak bleach solution and then wash with hot soapy water.  Rinse really well and put a stopper in the sink.   
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
4. Here, you can either steam, using a steamer insert (without the veggies touching the water) or blanch (completely immersing the veg into the water).  I did both, but found that blanching the sweet corn was much easier than steaming because I could fit 15 ears into a stovetop canner, but only 4 in the steamer insert.  However, anything smaller went into the steamer for ease of shocking (see #7)
5. While the veggies are steaming, place about 2-3 pounds of ice in the sink and add cold water.
6. Blanch for 3 minutes, steam for 4.  This was my general guideline: you might want to consult a traditional food preservation book for this, but I like things to be as minimally cooked as possible when they go in the freezer so that I have more control when they come out. 
7. When your timer goes off, remove the vegetables from the water and plunge into the ice water.  This is where a steamer basket comes in handy - if yours has a handle (I use this one, which came with my ALL-Clad set; if you have a multi cooker, this is the perfect time to get it out), you can remove the whole thing and plunge it, veg and all, into the sink.  Otherwise, you'll have to strain - which you don't want to do!!  This process is called shocking, and it stops the cooking process.  I do this a lot when cooking veggies, and it's a process you'll see in almost every restaurant kitchen.  You can cook the veggies halfway ahead of time by steaming for a few minutes, then shock them to stock the cooking, and then you can finish them however you'd like for service.  A great trick for party planning.
8. Do not strain your blanching/steaming water!
9. Why?  Because, after we save everything, we're going to make vegetable stock.  Notice how green it is?  It's full of vitamins!
10. If you're doing sweet corn, this is the time to cut the kernels from the cob.  Cut them off with a sharp knife - if you've only tried this with raw corn, you'll be amazed at how neatly the blanched kernels will fall, all in rows, onto your cutting board.  Do not throw those cobs away!!
11. Write on your bags with a Sharpie (yet another indispensable kitchen tool - restaurant kitchen or home) - the date, the item, and what else might be in the bag.
12. Here, you can go one of two ways: Freeze all together or freeze individually.  If you are going to be boiling-in-the-bag to use the entire frozen amount as a side dish, you probably want to freeze everything in one lump, skip step #12 and go to #13.  If you want to freeze pounds of green beans in one bag and shake out a few at a time and re-seal, then you should probably freeze the green beans separately, then go to step #12.
13. Strain the veggies and arrange them on a parchment-lined (or silpator other silicone-lined) sheet tray in one single layer and place in the freezer.  Freeze until hard and then proceed with step #14.
14. If you are going to be boiling these bags to serve as side dishes, drain the veggies well and place desired amount into a bag (1/2 cup - 3/4 cup per person, or thereabouts).  At this point, you can sprinkle in salt and pepper and even throw a pat of butter in there, as I did with the sweet corn, above).
15. If the veggies are individually frozen, place them all in a larger bag.
16. Seal.  For the freshly blanched veggies, you might want to use a pulse setting if you have it, so that you can stop the vacuuming as soon as liquid begins to rise from the bulk of the veggies.  You might even want to use the pulse setting with the frozen veggies, just to be sure they don't break.  If you have a super neato sealer which automatically accounts for liquid, well, then you can do whatever you'd like.
17. Freeze!
18. If you are short on time, throw your corn cobs into a bag, your trimmings into another bag (or, I suppose, the same one), and freeze those, too.  You can freeze the leftover water in a plastic container or something, too, and then get to it at a later date (although in truth, the next step doesn't take work, only time).

The nice thing about making these little packets is they don't take up a lot of space in the freezer, as boxes would.  And, because they make compact and relatively hard packets, they won't freeze over the wire shelving in the freezer, never to be pried loose.

Okay, that's your first tutorial.  I hope it helped.  Later today, I'm going to talk about what to do with all of that leftover water, trimmings, and corn cobs.  I'm sorry to break it up into two segments, but I wanted them to be easily searchable.  Happy freezing!

Please feel free to leave your tips!

How to Roast Peppers - A Pictorial Tutorial

Sure, you can buy them in a jar, but roasting peppers is fun and easy - there's fire involved!  Roasting peppers serves several purposes, namely it brings out the rich sweetness which comes naturally in a pepper, but is hard to create from sauteing.  It makes the pepper smoky, it also entails peeling the pepper, ensuring it has a more pleasant mouth feel, and it removes any bitterness.  Besides, did I mention there was fire?  There are many things you can do with a roasted pepper - slice it and toss it into any pasta, as I did a few days ago, you can make bruschetta with it, put it in a salad, or puree it and mix it with mayo to make a tasty sandwich spread.  Don't limit yourself to regular bell peppers, chiles, such as the poblano I roasted here (pictured above), are also greant, and smashing when mixed with corn for a side dish.  I have roasted this pepper right on my gas stovetop, but it can also be done in the coals of a grill (put it directly on the coals, keeping a close eye on it).  If you are limited to electric, you can put it under the broiler.

*There is, of course, a small risk of fire with roasting peppers, so have an extinguisher nearby.  Typically, the pepper is too moist to catch on fire, but it's best to be prepared.  Do not wear loose sleeves when doing this.  Didn't you see the Sopranos episode where Tony's goomara tries to cook eggs in her robe?  You are standing over an open flame, have some sense!

Step One - Place the pepper directly on the burner of a gas stove and char the entire pepper, one side at a time.  The time will of course vary depending on the type of stove you have - I find it usually takes about 4 minutes per side.  It's enough time that I can have the peppers charring away while I am busy chopping onions or whatever next to the stove. Turn the pepper carefully with tongs, being careful not to burn yourself or otherwise catch anything on fire:

Place the peppers in a double-bagged paper bag, or in a plastic bag.  Set this aside while you get on with making dinner.  You want the pepper to steam in there for at least 5 minutes, but you don't have to time it.  I just get to them when I have a free minute:

Rub the peppers in the paper bag to get the skin started coming off, and remove from the bag onto a cutting board.  Be careful!!  This pepper will be very hot!  You might notice it has deflated quite a bit since putting it in the bag.  Using a paper towel, wipe away the remaining charred skin, getting as many black bits off as possible; it's not necessary to get every bit off, I actually like a little remaining, although Husband will tell you char isn't a flavor:

Cut the flesh away from the seed core, discarding any seeds.  Slice, chop, puree or do whatever you like with the pepper.  Yum:

Chicken Under a Brick

After needling Husband about it in the two years since we moved into our house, we have finally purchased a grill.  A big, grown-up grill.  Okay, not too grown up.  Until we have the money/space/etc. needed for the outdoor kitchen of our dreams, this one will have to do.  Mother Nature, of course, chose to reward us by raining practically every night since this purchase was made, but we have managed to squeeze in a few dinners.  And I even practiced my chicken-butchering skills.

I consider myself something of a chicken-roasting savant.  I don't care what anyone else says, I roast a mean chicken.  I decided to try my hand at whole chicken grilling.  Husband seemed a little concerned, because the chicken does end up a little more blackened than it would in the oven, but fear not folks - it is delicious.  The first step in grilling a whole chicken is your chicken: I am partial to smaller, fryer sized chickens, and the butcher at Weiland's leaves them whole for me.  Now, I don't know about anyone else, and I don't want to knock any of the wonderful poultry farmers who are at the markets each Saturday, but I can't really afford a $5 a pound chicken.  Well, let's just say the guilt is too great if I mess it up.  I'll be running around the kitchen screeching "but that is a $23 chicken!  I don't care if it was left in the oven during the cleaning cycle!  We are going to eat it!"  I much prefer Weiland's local, Amish, free-range, antibiotic-free chickens for $1.59 a pound.  If you're wondering how they can make it so cheap, then you have never met an Amish farmer.  The typical fryer is about 3 pounds; of course, there are only two of us, and between us and our growing selection of begging cats, we can eat about the whole chicken.  You might need to buy 2 chickens.

Step two is procuring some manner of heavy object with which to weight your chicken.  I bought some 13" stepping stones for the garden at Lowe's recently and found they did the job perfectly, as they are heavy and cover the entire chicken.  You could also use a few bricks, or a pan with a heavy can placed inside (by which I mean the industrial-sized #10 can of baked beans or the like).  Wrap the brick in a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil and place next to your grill.

Step three is spatchcocking your chicken.  Spatchcocking is process whereby you remove the keel bone (think of it as a collar bone and sternum) from the bird; you cut the breast in half and "unfold" the bird so that he is flat. (Click here for pictures on how to do this - the tutorial uses poultry sheers, but I just use a big knife.) Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, or make some sort of rub.  I used 1 Tbsp of salt mixed with a pinch each of black pepper, cayenne, sweet paprika and cumin powder.

Heat your grill to moderately hot.  Drizzle your chicken with a little olive oil and place him, skin side down, on the hot grill for about 5 minutes, or until the skin is starting to blacken.  You may have flare-ups, so keep a spray bottle of water handy.  Turn over and place your brick on top of him, grilling for about 10 minutes.  Flip again, placing the weight back on, and grill for another 10 minutes, but start checking for doneness after 8 minutes.  You can do this using an internal thermometer or by inserting a knife into the breast - if the juices run clear, he's done.  Do not over cook!  Remove the chicken from the grill to a plate, cover with aluminum foil and allow to sit for 10 minutes.  During this time, I placed a pan of bread salad in the grill, on top of the brick (in an oven-safe dish, or course).

To serve - if you're serving with bread salad - drizzle the bread salad with a little good extra virgin olive oil, add the accumulated chicken juices from the resting plate, and place the chicken on top of the bread salad.  Enjoy with a nice green salad and some nice red wine.  Or white wine.  We chose Qupé Syrah, one of our favorites.  This meal tastes best eaten outside, something I can now happily do.

Local Sources for this Dinner:

Chicken from Weiland's Gourmet Market

Tomatoes are hydroponically grown from Wishwell farms, every Saturday morning at the North Market and and Worthington Farmer's Market

Last year on this day I was Cleaning Closets!

Roasted Potatoes

These are the perfect side dish with lovely small potatoes.  Sadly, these Red Thumb potatoes are already gone from the market, and now we have to wait for 11 whole months for more.  Of course, good potatoes are available nearly year-round, and this treatment works for fingerlings, Yukon Golds, or small red potatoes.  This method is also valuable for beets, turnips, carrots, etc.  To be true, the potatoes in this picture are slightly over-roasted, but good nonetheless.

Roasted Potatoes

1/2 pound small potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2" chunks with skins left on

good olive oil

kosher salt

fresh pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (up to 450, you can put these in the oven with your roasted chicken, should you so desire).  Boil the potatoes for about 12-15 minutes, or until they are just tender - less so than you would want for mashed potatoes, you want them to stand up to tossing.  Drain well and place the potatoes in a large bowl.  Drizzled good olive oil over them, just to coat, and then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.  Arrange in one layer on a cookie sheet and roast for 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes and the degree of crispness you would like.  Serve with anything.

Roasted Garlic and Garlic Confit

Roasted Garlic has numerous uses.  Once upon a time I dated an Italian boy who was constantly lauding the merits of roasted garlic, which I was far too naive to understand.  "You mean you just spread it on bread?  And then eat it, just like that?" I demanded, incredulous.  Well, time has passed and I have been known to eat entire heads of garlic in one sitting, for which I am forced to apologize to Coworkers and to Husband; when we were first married, Husband actually spent a night on the sofa to get away from my offensive pores. 

Sacrifices have to be made for good taste, however, and I will take minor shunning if it means good garlic eating.  Both of the following methods yield soft, sweet garlic which can be used for spreading on bread, adding to pasta, etc. 

To roast garlic:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut an entire head of garlic in half, widthwise and place in a 10-inch sheet of foil.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Fold up the sides of the foil and place in the oven for 45 minutes.  Carefully open the packet and test with a knife - the garlic is done when it is very easily pierced with a knife.

To make garlic confit*:  Place 20 peeled garlic cloves (cut the hard "stem" end off) in a small sauce pan and cover with 3/4 cup vegetable, canola, or olive/canola oil blend.  Heat on very low heat (the garlic should not turn brown) for 40 minutes to an hour, until a knife can easily pierce the cloves.  Store, refrigerated, for up to a month.  Basi Italia uses this method, spiked with red pepper flakes and herbs, as an alternative to butter to serve alongside their rolls. 

*Confit is a method of preservation whereby something (usually meat, as in duck confit) is cooked slowly in fat - usually, again as in duck confit, in its own fat.  It is then submerged and stored in the fat, where it will last for months.  This method of preservation was essential before refrigeration was available, and is now used in higher-end cuisine (at least in the States).