We like the full flavor and juiciness of olives that come with their pits still inside. If you're going to cook with olives, though, you'll need to remove the pits. Pitting olives adds a few minutes of prep time to a dish, but isn't hard to do.
You can buy tools made specifically to pit olives, but they often don't work for oddly sized olives and end up living permanently in the back of a kitchen drawer. Instead, we use a dough scraper or pastry cutter. You could use any tool that has a wide, flat surface (the flat side of a knife, a small skillet, etc.)
Just press straight down onto the olive with the flat surface until you feel the olive pop.
Continuing to press down gently, pull the tool back toward you. This will often make the seed pop right out.
If the seed hasn't popped out yet, just squeeze with your fingers to release it. Now you're free to keep the pitted olive whole to toss into a pasta or salad, chop it to stir into a sauce for grilled meat or fish, or toss it into the food processor to make tapenade.
Find more olive recipes on Cookthink.com.
Monterey Jack is a semi-hard, cow's milk cheese. Its mild flavor and gooey-when-melted texture make Monterey Jack an excellent match for sandwiches and spicy Latin American dishes.
Cheese folklore traces Monterey Jack's lineage back to the farmers cheeses that fed Caesar's army. A version of this was brought to California via Spain by the Franciscans.
This cheese was being made around Monterey when a Scot named David Jacks conned his way into ownership of much of the Monterey Peninsula in the middle of the 1800s. According to one version, Jacks later invested in dairy and to make use of milk surpluses he started making a simple cheese based on the one the Franciscans were making. The cheese, which Jacks shipped north to San Francisco, became known as "Jack's Cheese" and, later, "Monterey Jack". (Now, you sometimes see Monterey Jack called Sonoma Jack or California Jack.)
According to another version of the cheese's provenance, a Spanish woman named Dona Joana Cota de Boronda sold cheese door-to-door in Monterey. She used a press, or "jack", to expunge the whey from the cheese and form the bricks of curd. Boronda's property eventually fell into Jacks' hands, which means that a more accurate box stamping would have been "Jack's Jack Cheese" or "Monterey Jack Jack".
Today, you can find Monterey Jack at almost every grocery store. You may also find varieties mixed with herbs or hot peppers. You will have to look a little harder for the aged version, Dry Jack, which is hard like Parmesan and has a tangier, nuttier flavor than young Jack. Order Dry Jack by the wheel from California's Vella Cheese.
Root Soure: Tortilla Chip (Cookthink)
Recipe: Macaroni And Cheese (Cookthink)
Recipe: Black Bean, Cheese And Serrano Quesadillas With Avocado And Lime (Cookthink)
Be sure to get your oysters (and all seafood) from a reliable fishmonger. If you don't have one, check your local supermarket -- many larger ones have excellent fish departments. Occasionally, busy seafood restaurants may also have an adjoining market open to the public.
When choosing oysters, rely on your senses:
Smell: Fresh oysters should smell like sea water; crisp and briny and not at all fishy. Pre-shucked oysters should have no ammonia smell.
Sight: Oysters should be kept on ice, in a well-drained refrigerated case. The shells should be mostly closed and should close tightly when tapped with a finger.
Touch: The oyster shells should be scratchy and may have barnacles; avoid oysters with lots of algae, seaweed or mossy patches, as these may have been kept in a tank with poor water circulation.
Taste: If you're lucky enough to be able to taste-test the oysters, check for levels of brininess and adjust your recipe accordingly.
In the United States, fish sellers are required by law to keep the delivery tags from shipments of fresh seafood. Ask to see the tags; they give the dates of shipment and delivery, so you'll know how long the oysters were in transit, how long they have been on display, and their source.
Reference: How to shuck an oyster (Cookthink)
Reference: What is an oyster knife? (Cookthink)
