Green onions are a milder, versatile alternative to onions. The white parts are great for cooking, but mild enough to work into raw salsas and salads. The green parts work in either, too, but have an almost herbal quality when raw.To prep them, first pull off and discard any soft outer layers. It's best to rinse them after you do this. Cut off the root and and any damaged top green parts and discard them.Now just thinly slice straight across the onion. Thin slices are good to at at the end of cooking, sprinkled over a finished dish, or raw in salads and salsas.Make thicker slices for longer cooking dishes, and when you plan to sauté them first with oil or butter and spices. As with onions, a little salt at the beginning of cooking helps them soften more quickly.For stir-frys and shorter-cooking dishes where the green onion plays a starring role, slice the onions at an angle. The sharp slices look great on the plate (if you're impressed with that sort of thing).
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)
How to remove corn from the cob
How to remove corn from the cob
Fresh corn is abundant and easy to cook (and doesn't always need to be cooked -- it's delicious raw in salads). Here's how to remove the kernels from the cob.
Peel back the green husk and the thin wispy tassles.
Grab the husk, pop it off the cob and discard it.
Stand the cob up on a plate or in a bowl and run the knife down and across the kernels, as deep as you can go. Add the naked cob to soups or stocks for good corn flavor.
What's the difference between a green onion and a scallion?
What's the difference between a green onion and a scallion?
The words green onion and scallion are generally interchangeable; they both most often refer to immature members of the sweet onion family.
In general, green onions or scallions are vegetables with a white base and long straight green leaves that can be eaten raw or cooked (both parts). In Europe, the term spring onion refers to green onions that have a fatter but mild white bulb and long green leaves.
recipe: Boiled Eggs With Green Onions, Bell Pepper And Ginger (cookthink)
recipe: Green Onion Beer Bread (Coconut & Lime)
You can leave basil leaves whole and add them to salads and hot dishes toward the end of cooking, tear them into pieces for more capricious basil flavor, or thinly slice them. To avoid bruising the basil, slide a sharp knife down and across the basil with a deliberate, smooth stroke. A clean cut will darken the leaves less than a pounding cut.
To slice basil, first stack the leaves together.
You can either roll them up like a cigar and slice through them to make a chiffonade, or just slice away at them as they are.
Tarragon is a delicate, green herb with long, thin pointy leaves and a singular flavor with hints of anise.
One of the signature herbs in French cooking, tarragon is a main player in the classic quartet known as fines herbes. Tarragon marries particularly well with chicken, eggs, fish and cream. It also infuses tarragon vinegar and is the most crucial ingredient in Béarnaise sauce.
French tarragon is the most aromatic and flavorful tarragon for cooking. Russian tarragon doesn't smell or taste as good (no offense, Russians). You can buy tarragon fresh in summer, but in a pinch dried tarragon will work for many recipes. Just be careful not to get carried away and use too much, since tarragon has a strong personality and a tendency to overwhelm the other ingredients when given a chance.
Fun facts about tarragon: It was once thought to cure snakebite and the famous character of Estragon the clochard in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot is named after the French word for tarragon.
Recipe: Iceberg Wedges With Garlic Croutons And Green Goddess Dressing (Cookthink)
Recipe: Tortellini With Tarragon, Chives And Parsley (Cookthink)
What does it mean to julienne?
What does it mean to julienne?
To julienne something is to cut it into long, thin strips, like matchsticks. While there is some discrepancy over the exact width of a julienne cut, it is the smallest of its category, generally agreed to measure around 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch.
The alumette cut is a bit bigger than the julienne, and the batonnet is the largest of the matchstick cuts, about 1/4 of an inch. There's no need to get out the ruler at Cookthink, though. We usually just go with "cut into matchsticks" instead of "julienned". It's just easier that way and, frankly, you'll be fine as long as you think "matchsticks" and cut whatever it is you're cutting as thin as you can.
Some vegetables you commonly cut into matchsticks: peppers, carrots, celery and onions for salads and soups. Beef, pork or duck work well this way in stir-fries.
