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Stir Frying
Skillet Meals From Home
While there are hundreds of boxed meals that can be prepared in a skillet, with a minimum amount of work, you can create your own skillet meals at home.
Macaroni and cheese is a wonderful base for many of these, but there is no limit to the kind of foods that can be cooked in a skillet. Some of the most tender barbecue ribs I have ever made were made in an electric skillet, at the time I had no oven.
I boiled the ribs in beer, cooking removes the alcohol, then put them in an electric skillet, brushed them with barbecue sauce turned the skillet to simmer and put the lid on.
I let them cook for about 5 hours, checking occasionally to make sure they were not burning, and adding sauce as they were turned. They were delicious, and fall of the bone tender, give it a try sometime, you will love them!
Now back to the macaroni and cheese, while cooking the macaroni, brown hamburger in a skillet add a can of chili, when the macaroni is done add the cheese then stir into the hamburger chili mix.
Its called Chili-mac and a favorite of even the most discriminating family members! This is a little trick I learned from a true Texan, just open a small package of Fritos and add chili to the bag, only one skillet used for the chili and no dishes to wash.
Give everyone a spoon; they will love it for camping and outdoor parties. Left over roast can make a wonderful one skillet mean, just cut the roast in small pieces, add bouillon for flavor, add water and cook in the skillet until the meat is tender, add vegetables and cook until they are done and the water cooks away.
Left over pork steak is excellent when rolled in flour, and fried in olive oil; add water and rice to the mixture, the flour on the pork creates wonderful gravy for the rice.
See Also:
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Efficiency will save you lots of time in the kitchen, to accomplish this, learn to do more than one thing at a time. Increased preparation time before cooking is another way to become a faster cook.
Read your recipe before starting, this will save you many headaches, like getting a dish ready and finding out you need bat wings and you dont have any! Just kidding, I dont stock bat wings in my kitchen either, but you get the idea.
Get everything you will need together, follow the order they are used in the recipe, this allows you to be sure that you have everything you will need. Once you are sure you have everything, measure out the ingredients according to the recipe.
Organize all of your ingredients on one side of the work area, as you use something, move it to the other side, lessens confusion as to whether you used it or not.
Use the cutting board for all of your non-meat items first, this avoids cross contamination. If you have to prepare the meat first, wash the cutting board thoroughly before using it for any other food items.
Keeping a sink of hot soapy water will help cleanup later on, just drop used utensils in the water and allow them to soak.
Sometimes it is better to use your hands to mix something than it is to use a utensil; it also saves time washing up later. I for one loved making mud pies when I was a child, the only difference is the mud is now hamburger and the crushed leaves are now herbs.
Salads are always mixed more evenly if they are tossed with your hands. Make sure to wash your hands thoroughly, inexpensive plastic gloves will help if you didnt like playing in the mud!
Coat measuring cups, spoons and molds with non-stick spray before putting anything sticky in them, the ingredients will slide right out. To prevent having to clean a burned on, sticky mess from your boiler pan, line the pan with foil and spray the rack with non-stick spray.
Re-sealable plastic is great for marinating and coating foods with flour or cornmeal.
Planning in advance can save you a lot of time in the kitchen opening up your evenings to spend more time with your family. |
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Outdoor Grills
Barbecues have thrilled the American public for years, who doesnt love to taste of food cooked over an open grill?
Choosing a grill is an important part of this process, and there are as many types of grills as there are people cooking out of doors. There are small ones that fold up and can sit anywhere, costing only a few dollars.
There are the old standbys that were round with legs, and eventually they got used so much that the bottom burned out! Then there are the big fancy ones, costing hundreds of dollars, with propane, or charcoal.
Then there are the back yard barbecue enthusiasts who have one built of brick, block or fieldstone the choice is yours. There are grills with hoods, windshields, warming ovens and rotisseries.
These items bring all the advantages of cooking in your kitchen into your backyard. It is important that the grill you purchase meet all of your needs, choose it in the same way you would choose a stove for the kitchen!
Do you want a grill that you can take with you to a friends house; or just one to leave at home? If you are newlyweds just getting started, you may want a small grill just for two, possibly a hibachi, unless you have lots of barbecues or plan to start your family early.
In which case you may choose one of the larger models, for cooking a large amount of food at one time. Another consideration is propane or charcoal briquettes, some people dont like the taste of foods barbecued over propane (it looses that smoked taste).
However, you can buy chips to bring that taste out in your foods. Charcoal briquettes have a definite advantage when it comes to taste, and like I said earlier, who doesnt love the taste of food cooked over an open grill?
I once cooked on a grill so old the bottom was covered with a piece of metal and tin foil, dont try to convince the owner of that grill to buy a new one, his is “just getting broke in good”!
Choose wisely and enjoy your outdoor grill for many years to come!
Related Topics: Cooking With Teflon,
Setting-Cleaning Up Your Kitchen, The Cost of Coffee
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