Cooking Tricks

Olives

July 26, 2021

Use a cherry pitter to pit olives. If you don’t have a cherry pitter (or an olive pitter) use a flat meat pounder or the bottom of a small skillet to squash the olive on a work surface, crushing the flesh so that you can remove the pit. There are very few recipes that all for perfectly pitted olives, anyway.

If you’re a martini drinker, toss out the olive brine from the jar, and replace it with dry vermouth. You will improve both your olives and your martinis.

A melon baller can be used to pull olives out of the jar. The small hole on the baller drains the brine, too.

“Work With What You Got!”

©Tiny New York Kitchen © 2021 All Rights Reserved

Waste Not, Want Not

June 6, 2020

One easy tip for making sure fresh fruit and vegetables don’t go to waste is to wash, dry and prep them immediately so they are ready for snacking and cooking right from the fridge.

“Work With What You Got!”

©Tiny New York Kitchen © 2020 All Rights Reserved

Pasta

April 3, 2020

There is no salt in pasta dough, so be sure to put enough salt in the cooking water. First, use plenty of water: about 4 quarts for 1 pound of pasta. Because salt slows the rate at which water comes to a boil, don’t add salt until after water is bubbling. Use a heaping teaspoon for every quart water. No need to measure. Instead just taste the water. You should be able to detect the salt.

Always serve pasta from a warmed serving bowl. Place the bowl in the sink, and set the colander inside the bowl. Drain the pasta, letting the water drain into the bowl. Lift up the pasta in the colander, give it a good shake to drain further, and then pour the pasta into the still warm cooking pot. Add the sauce and combine. Pour out the water from the serving bowl, and dry the bowl. Transfer the pasta to the warm bowl and serve.

“Work With What You Got!”

©Tiny New York Kitchen © 2020 All Rights Reserved

Baking Pies

September 13, 2017

Whether you’re baking summer pies or getting ready for holiday baking it’s important to have some key information about pie dough.

Blind Baking
Blind baking is prebaking a crust before you add an unbaked or especially wet filling. To ensure that your crust turns out crisp while blind baking, you can either dock it or use pie weights.

Docking
Docking is pricking the dough all over with the tines of a fork. The tiny holes allow steam to escape, so that the crust doesn’t puff up. After rolling out your dough and pressing it into the pan, gently prick it, leaving an inch or two between each mark. Be sure to check your crust several times throughout its bake time. If you notice it puffing up in any way, simply prick the puffy spots a few times and keep baking.

Pie Weights
Pie weights are tiny ceramic or metal balls or a thin metal chain that prevent the bottom of your crust from forming air pockets and bubbling up while baking. While docking is less fussy than using pie weights, I prefer pie weights because of the additional support they give the crust. Line your unbaked crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil before adding the weights to keep them from baking into the dough. I prefer parchment paper because its permeable structure allows the crust to breathe and brown more evenly. If you don’t own pie weights, dried beans work just as well.

Blind Bake Ahead
You can blind bake a crust up to three days ahead of time. Allow the crust to cool completely in the pan, wrap with plastic wrap, and store at room temperature until you are ready to fill and serve.

Happy Pie Baking!

“Work With What You Got!”

© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2017 All Rights Reserved

Melting Cheeses

April 3, 2017

I don’t know a single person who doesn’t love the taste of melted cheese. Not every cheese oozes the same way. Some just melt better than others. When it comes to classic cheesy dishes, you want a cheese that’s going to melt into something creamy and smooth with a strong flavor.

Basically, the more moisture in a cheese, the better it melts. Cheddars and Goudas with high moisture content can make for a nice fondue. Emmental, Challerhocker, Comté, and Gruyere are excellent for making fondue as well. These cheeses beg to be melted. Their smooth, dense texture and nutty flavor make them the top choice for classic fondue. Bread, pickles, crackers, meats, and charcuterie are perfect fondue pot divers.

Cheddars are, of course, excellent for making mac & cheese, grilled cheese, and cheeseburgers. I tend to go for sharp or extra sharp Cheddars because I like to really taste the tanginess.

Soft cow’s milk cheese like Brie and Camembert don’t take much time to get to that beautiful melted soft texture. Just put them in the oven for a few minutes and you’re good to go. Because they come in their own serving vessel you can dip whatever you like in there.

“Work With What You Got!”

© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2017 All Rights Reserved

Cooking Pasta

October 13, 2016

Cooking Pasta

There is no salt in pasta dough, so make sure to put enough salt in the cooking water. Use plenty of water, which should be about 4 quarts per 1 pound of pasta. Because salt actually slows down the rate at which water comes to a boil, add salt after the water is boiling. Use a heaping teaspoon for every quart of water. If you don’t think that you have enough salt in the water, then taste it, and you should be able to detect the salt.

I like to serve pasta from a warmed serving bowl. Place the bowl in the sink and set the colander inside of the bowl. Drain the pasta, letting the water drain into the bowl. Lift up the pasta in the colander, give it a good shake to drain further, and then pour the pasta into the still warm cooking pot. Make sure to NEVER rinse the pasta. This is a big no no. Then add the sauce to the pasta, in the cooking pot, and combine. Pour out the water from the serving bowl. I always reserve a cup or two of the pasta water in case I want to thin out the sauce a bit. Dry the bowl and transfer the pasta to the warm bowl and serve. It’s that easy.

“Work With What You Got!”

© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2016 All Rights Reserved

Dried Beans

October 6, 2016

Dried Beans

Purchase dried beans from a source with good turnover. When I’m travel to Tucson I love to stock up on dried beans from Native Seeds, who have a nice selection of beautiful beans (http://shop.nativeseeds.org/collections/beans) The longer the beans are on the shelf, the drier they become, and the longer they will take to cook. If you’ve ever cooked beans that just wouldn’t become tender, they were probably too old. Once you have them home, store them in an airtight container in a cool dark place.

Soaking dried beans reduces the cooking time and helps the beans hold their shape better during cooking. Although soaking isn’t necessary, the shortened cooking time cuts energy use, which is a good enough reason to soak. Spread the beans on a large baking sheet, and sort through them to remove stones or broken beans. Transfer the beans to a bowl and add enough cold water to cover by an inch or two. Let stand for 2 hours; longer will shrivel the beans. Drain before using.

For a quicker soaking method, place the sorted beans in a large saucepan, add cold water to cover, and bring to a full boil. Immediately remove from the heat and cover. Let stand for 1 hour, and then drain before using.

Cooks are divided over when to salt a pot of cooking beans. Some people believe that salting toughens the beans and thus lengthens their cooking time. Others believe that if beans are salted toward the end of cooking, the flavor is dull. So, in the interest of proper seasoning, go ahead and add a reasonable amount of salt at the beginning of cooking (about 1/2 teaspoon per cup of dried beans), as the add cooking time is minimal.

www.tinynewyorkkitchen.com

“Work With What You Got!”

© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2016 All Rights Reserved

5 Ways To Use A Vegetable Peeler

September 13, 2016

5 Ways To Use A Vegetable Peeler

The humble vegetable peeler has hidden talents.

Easily Peel Fruit: To peel soft fruits and vegetables, like tomatoes and peaches, you usually have to briefly dunk them into boiling water. Using a good vegetable peeler is so much easier and faster. Look for peelers with serrated blades for the best results and select not-too-ripe fruit.

Shaved Cheese: Give salads, pastas and roasted vegetables a restaurant-style finish by garnishing with generous amounts of shaved Parmesan or pecorino romano cheese.

Vegetable Pasta: Shave long strips of zucchini, carrots (even sweet potatoes and squash) to transform them into pasta substitutes. Serve raw or briefly steamed with your favorite sauce, or toss with a vinaigrette for a fresh and nutritious salad.

Spreadable Butter: Is there anything worse than trying to butter toast or bread with rock hard butter straight from the fridge? Use a vegetable peeler to scrape off thin and perfectly spreadable butter ribbons.

Chocolate Curls: Peel the edge of a slightly softened chunk of chocolate to create curls, or the flat surface of very cold chocolate to make shavings. Keep your creations in the freezer and use to garnish cakes, pies, puddings and seasonal fruit.

www.tinynewyorkkitchen.com

“Work With What You Got!”

© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2016 All Rights Reserved

How To Roast A Duck

How To Roast A Duck

December 4, 2015

How To Roast A Duck
How To Roast A Duck

How To Roast A Duck

Roasting a whole duck can seem daunting, but once you’re armed with a little knowledge, a perfectly cooked duck is easily within reach.

Choose the right bird. A Pekin (Long Island) duck is best for roasting whole. It’s ideal to slice, has a sweet flavor, has good fat content, and is widely available.

Score it. There’s a ton of wonderful fat layered between the skin and meat of the duck, which is certainly more than you want to eat. So it’s crucial to score the breasts and legs, slicing through the skin and fat. Make sure to stop before you hit the meat. Scoring allows some of that fat goodness to render out.

Use that rendered fat. Store this priceless liquid gold in the refrigerator or freezer and use it to add flavor to everything from salads to popcorn. Duck fat is a chef’s best friend.

“Work With What You Got!”

© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2015 All Rights Reserved

tnyl-logo-combo

Ways To Use Your Roasted Chicken

September 10, 2015

Ways To Use Your Roasted Chicken

Summer is over, the kids are back in school, and it’s back to busy life as usual. Already cooked chicken is a perfect way to save time in the kitchen. Here are some great ways to use roasted chicken for easy weeknight dinners.

Salads: Add to mixed greens, chopped tomatoes, chopped cucumbers, shredded carrots, and sliced red onions. Toss with your favorite low-fat or fat-free dressing.

Lettuce Wraps: Add 2 cups of chopped chicken to shredded carrots, green onions, and bean sprouts. Toss with teriyaki sauce. Spoon onto lettuce leaves and sprinkle with almonds. Fold sides of lettuce over filling and roll up.

Sandwiches & Wraps: Make a chicken salad filling with crunchy celery and apples. Use plain low-fat yogurt and add a touch of curry powder or cumin for dressing. Stuff into a pita pocket or spoon into a wrap and roll up.

Soups: Add 2 cups chopped chicken, your favorite chopped vegetables and 1 cup of uncooked rice or noodles to 6 cups of fat-free chicken broth.

Quesadillas: Combine shredded chicken with a pinch of cumin. Spoon on one half of a flour tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese and fold tortilla in half. Cook on a nonstick skillet for 3 minutes on both sides.

Burritos, Enchiladas, Fajitas & Tacos: Add shredded chicken to salsa, beans, sour cream and cheese. Or combine with sautéed onions & sweet peppers, shredded lettuce & chopped tomatoes, or mix with green chiles, spices, green onions and enchilada sauce. Serve on flour or corn tortillas.

Pasta Dishes: Use shredded chicken instead of ground beef in your favorite lasagna recipe.

Skillet Meals: Add 1 1/2 cups of chopped chicken to sautéed onions, broccoli, mushrooms, and rice. Cook in low-fat broth. Sprinkle on Parmesan cheese before serving.

“Work With What You Got!”

© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2015 All Rights Reserved

Latest Recipes

Roasted Cod Tacos

Roasted Cod Tacos

Black Eyed Pea Salad

Black Eyed Pea Salad

Eggnog Lattes

Eggnog Lattes

Christmas Wreath Pavlova

Christmas Wreath Pavlova

Spicy Mussels

Spicy Mussels