Do I need a digital instant-read meat thermometer?
Do I need a digital instant-read meat thermometer?
For $10-25, you'll have the most foolproof way to ensure that the meat you cook is done to how you (and the people you're feeding) like it. It's simply the most reliable way to get meat right.
Here are the temperatures to aim for. If you're going to let the meat rest before serving it (which is a good idea), take it out 3F (single pieces of meat) to 5F (roasts and whole birds) cooler than the temps listed below:
Pork
slightly pink: 150F
Poultry (chicken, turkey, cornish hen)
160F
Beef
rare: 125F-130F
medium-rare: 130F-135F
medium: 135F-150F
Lamb
rare: 125F
medium-rare: 130F
medium: 135F
Duck
Whole duck: 170F in the thigh
Breasts:
rare: 130F
medium-rare: 135F
medium: 140F
Sausages and ground meat:
170F
Note that trichinosis (which used to be danger with under-cooked pork) is killed at 137F. Salmonella is killed at 160F. If you're worried about salmonella, cook everything to 160F.
what you should know
Like its summery sibling zucchini, yellow squash is picked immature so that its soft seeds and thin rind are still perfectly edible. (So-called winter squash -- butternut, acorn and so on -- mature fully before harvest.)
flash in the pan Because yellow squash has such a high water content, it's best suited to cooking quickly on the grill or in sautés and stir fries. At only 36 calories per cup, yellow squash packs a light, healthy punch of dietary fiber and Vitamins A and C.
sliced and diced When prepping yellow squash, we tend to go with large cubes for roasting, long slices for salads and dipping, and rounds for pizzas and frittatas.
well, i'm a crookneck Yellow crookneck squash has a thicker -- but still edible -- rind that holds up well in gratins and kebabs on the grill. If you happen to get an older crookneck whose rind is too tough, whittle it down with a vegetable peeler.
what you need
To dish up a squash gratin, try this stoneware baking dish from Le Creuset or several of these cute single-serving versions, also from Le Creuset.
As always, we're mad about our vegetable peelers. (Last year, Claire pitted the straight peeler vs. the Y peeler and found the Y lacking.)
If you've developed a passionate love for squash, then you have something in common with Amy Goldman, author of The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes, and Gourds.
what you do
A quick grill brings out all the flavor of a fresh yellow squash in just a few minutes.
Yellow squash gratin with basil is just one step more complicated, and still simply delicious.
The delicate, moist texture of squash works well in a papillote, like this one with chicken, red onion and yellow squash.
We love to serve yellow squash and Italian sausage against the doughy backdrop of flat pappardelle noodles.
Featured recipe: If you're craving something crispy and fried, try these summer squash fritters with herbs. The recipe comes from Food 4 The Week, and is the featured recipe for this week's Root Source Challenge.
Chopping is probably the most common way to prep an onion. Chopped onions show up in anything that needs the basic, earthy pungent flavor that onions give. Chop them larger for longer-cooking dishes like stews and rustic soups, and smaller (call it a dice if you like) for anything from salsas to sauces to ragouts.
To start, cut the onion in half through the root. The root itself will help keep the onion together for chopping
Rotate the onion 90 degrees and cut off the papery end (not the root end). This will make the skin easy to peel away and discard.
Peel back the onion's papery skin. It's often easiest to peel away the first layer of the onion along with the skin.
Make a series of diagonal cuts (roughly 45 degrees) into the side of the onion. Keep more space between the slices for a large chop. Make the cuts closer together for a small chop or a dice.
Now make a series of horizontal cuts to finish shaping the chop or dice.
Finally, rotate the onion again and slice crosswise against the checkerboard pattern you made in the onion. The chopped pieces will fall away from the onion.
To wash or not to wash? Though the conventional wisdom says not to wash mushrooms, we side with Jacques Pepin, Harold McGee and Alton Brown, all of whom say that washing leads to neither mushy mushrooms nor lost flavor. Most of the time though, you'll be okay just brushing over dark spots with a damp paper towel. However you decide to clean your mushrooms, wait and clean them just before you need them.
