Cooking tips
The end of June was busy for me and the weather in Northern California was really hot. So instead of trying new recipes I spent the most of the time grilling chicken and hamburgers and making simple salads for dinner. I did find a couple of great resources that I want to share that helped me improve my cooking and can help you too.
First I found this great video series called Mad Genius Tips from Food and Wine. One of the videos had a great tip for how to make the make the perfect size hamburger. A lot of the time my hamburgers come out too round like a slightly flattened tennis ball and I was considering buying a burger press to get them nice and flat until I saw this video. The tip from the video is to use two tops from deli salad containers to get your burgers the exact right size and thickness to match the bun and to keep the meat from getting warmed by the heat in your hands. I’ve tried this technique three times now and works like a charm. I was so happy I did not need to buy a burger press that I bought a fancy new digital meat thermometer instead.
The second thing I found actually all the way back in May was this comparison that the Food52 web site had done about how to store your herbs for maximum freshness. I really like to use fresh herbs in my cooking and often buy them at the farmers market since you often get a larger bunch at a lower cost there instead of at the grocery story. Food52 highlighted a few different ways to store the herbs depending on how delicate they were including storing basil out on a countertop instead of in the refrigerator and covering herbs like parsley or cilantro while storing them in water in the refrigerator. I followed all the suggestions and was able to keep parsley for almost 4 weeks in the refrigerator and basil on my countertop for over 2 weeks.
The final thing I found was this series of blog posts on Bon Appetit about strategies for bringing your lunch to work. I like to bring my lunch to the office but can always use new ideas and inspiration to mix things up. Some of the best tips included making big batches of staples like beans or grains to use throughout the week on Sunday, having condiments in your desk drawer to spice up your home lunch, making gourmet sandwiches from left overs (like the one above with grilled eggplant and pomegranate mint marinated chicken), and getting away from your desk to eat your brought from home lunch (this is one thing that I still need to work on). I hope some of these tips will inspire you too since bringing your lunch can not only save you money but also help you use up your left overs and reduce your food waste.
