What is extra-virgin olive oil?
What is extra-virgin olive oil?
Extra-virgin olive oil is the precious unrefined first result of cold-pressing olives to make a fruity liquid that contains less than one percent acid.
Extra-virgin olive oil is the most expensive olive oil variety, and it is best appreciated in salads or as a garnish to give preparations a final flourish. If you are using olive oil to cook, it's fine to use regular olive oil.
Greece is the #1 consumer of olive oil in the world and also the leading producer of extra virgin olive oils, which account for 82 percent of their olive oil production. The U.S. is not a member of the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), which regulates olive oil standards worldwide, and the IOOC does not recognize the U.S. standards for extra-virgin oil.
There is much controversy in the olive oil world, with accusations of corruption and adulteration smearing consumer confidence and shedding doubt on the purity of so-called virgin olive oil.
When you want a dish to have quintessential garlic flavor that permeates each bite, mince it. You can mince with a knife, or a garlic press.
Either way, you need to free the individual cloves. To do that, press down on the head with the heel of your palm. Apply firm, even pressure so the cloves don't fly all over the place.
To peel an individual clove, cut of the hard stem end where the clove attached to the bulb. Either stop the cut just short of the skin on the other side and peel the skin around to remove it, or make the cut all the way through and squeeze out the clove. The older the clove, the easier the skin releases.
You can also peel it by setting the side of your knife blade on the clove and pressing down until you feel the skin release, though not hard enough to pulverize it, or the skin will get mixed in with the garlic.
To mince with a knife, smash the peeled clove with the side of the knife. Then just run your knife back and forth across the smashed clove, chopping as you go until it's as fine as you like.
If you don't want individual little pieces of garlic and have a press, just put the whole peeled clove (or cloves, if you can fit them) in the press and squeeze. Use your knife to trim away any clinging garlic.
Storing fresh herbs is a battle against the inevitable, but here are a few tips for keeping them alive in time for you to eat them up:
1 Set a bushy herb like parsley, cilantro, chervil, or mint in a shallow glass of water and keep it on the counter or in the refrigerator for several days, just like a bouquet.
2 Or, rinse it, wrap it loosely in a paper or dish towel while still damp, and place it (with or without a plastic bag covering) in the crisper or at the bottom of the fridge.
3 Sturdy herbs such as rosemary or thyme can be stored in paper or loose plastic (either keep it loose or puncture some air holes to let out moisture). Or you can simply hang them upside down in the kitchen, where they will dry slowly.
4 Do not manhandle delicate herbs like chives, tarragon or basil. Rinse lightly, wrap loosely in paper and place in a plastic bag in the crisper.
5 Fresh herbs should last about a week if stored properly. If you're at the end of your garden's season and you have a tons of herbs left unused, you can most herbs to have later in the year. Kalyn's Kitchen breaks down the best way to freeze basil, rosemary and thyme.
Reference: Marjoram vs. oregano (Cookthink)
Reference: How to make pesto (Cookthink)
The meaning of grilling varies according to where you happen to be in the world.
Grilling is often used as a synonym for broiling, though in the United States when we use the verb "to grill," we technically mean that the food is cooked over a direct heat source. Broiling is a cooking method in which food is cooked directly under a high heat source. (Barbecuing generally refers to cooking food over indirect heat.)
To confuse matters, our British and Australian friends refer to what we call broiling as grilling; hence the term "grilled cheese," which in the UK is generally made open-faced and heated under a broiler, not fried in a pan in the American fashion.
Recipe: Grilled Chili-Cumin Pork Tenderloin (Cookthink)
Recipe: Grilled Eggplant (Cookthink)
what you should know
Used to be that skirt steak was regarded as a second-rate cut of beef, good only when you couldn't afford the good stuff.
Then came the fajitas craze of the 1980s. As that sizzling mainstay of Tex-Mex went mainstream, the price of skirt steak rose, as did home cooks' appreciation of it. And what's not to like? A long, consistently flat cut from the belly, skirt steak's streaks of fat keep it juicy and give it a mouthfillingly meaty flavor that's missing in leaner cuts of beef.
sizzling While fajitas (and carne asada tacos) still account for most of the skirt steak sold in the U.S., it has also become one of the most popular grilling steaks.
thin and flash Left too long over heat, skirt steak gets tough, so it's best to cook it fast over high heat--about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. If you get a thicker cut, pound it down first or butterfly it, and then marinate it for half an hour or so before flash cooking on one side.
what you need
In Amy Sedaris' I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, her Gypsy Skirt Steak recipe begins: "Steal some skirt steak." (Buy the book for the humor, not the recipes.)
Lordly Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall treats the subject of his meat much more seriously in his River Cottage Meat Book and River Cottage Cookbook.
But for clear and sober advice on meat and how to cook it, we generally defer to two solid books: Andrew Schloss' and David Joachim's Mastering the Grill and Bruce Aidells' and Denis Kelly's Complete Meat Cookbook.
what you do
If you have a large steel drum you're able heat until it's scorching hot, try to cook skirt steak fajitas the traditional way. Otherwise, a pan or grill will do.
We love Steamy Kitchen's grilled skirt steak. The marinade is an oil and vinegar mix. You could also go with a chimichurri or lime-soy marinade.
This skirt steak with caramelized shallots is an indoors recipe that could easily be adapted for the outside.
With any leftover skirt steak, make tacos or wraps by contrasting the tender, rich meat with crispy, fresh radishes and salty, soft cotija cheese.
Featured recipe: For this Montreal steak sandwich, the skirt steak is dusted in Montreal Steak Spice and then pan-fried with onions and mushrooms. The recipe comes from ketherian Food Journal. It's the featured recipe for this week's Root Source Challenge.
