Table Talk » Quick Tip Archives

February 7, 2010

Quick Tip: Oven-Poaching Boneless Chicken Breasts

Oven-poaching is a fool-proof way to poach chicken breasts for chicken salads and other recipes. What I like about this method is that it is essentially hands-free. Once the chicken is in the oven, there's no adjusting the temperature to make sure the temperature is not too high or too low.

This video uses bay leaves, peppercorns, and lemon slices, but you can change the seasoning to match your dish. For example, when I am poaching chicken for a southwestern dish, I'll add peppercorns, chili powder, and lime slices. For a Thai dish, I add ginger, garlic, and kaffir lime leaves.

The next time you need poached chicken, try this method.

Posted February 7, 2010 2:08 PM | Comments (3)

July 9, 2009

Quick tip: pitting cherries

OK, so this is my first ever cooking video. Not great, but I learn by doing, so I'm going to start just doing. Bear with me as I learn.

With most cherry recipes, first you have to start by pitting your cherries. Pitting cherries can be a messy job. My advice is to wear gloves and an apron. I've tried a lot of different ways to pit cherries and this method that uses a chef's knife is the easiest one that I've found, plus it doesn't require any tools.

With the side of a chef's knife, lightly press on each cherry. This splits the cherry open and then you can easily remove the pit and stem. Like this:

Posted July 9, 2009 9:18 AM | Comments (3)

June 1, 2009

Quick tip: soak your herbs to remove fine sand

I'm always amazed at the amount of fine sand that clings to the bunches of parsley and cilantro that I buy at the grocery store. Simply washing these bunches of herbs under running water removes some of the fine sand, but I've found that the best way to remove all of the fine sand is to soak the herbs in a large bowl of cold water very much like we did here with leeks. After filling a large bowl with cool water, I remove the band from the herbs and swirl them around in the water, then I let them soak in the water for 10-15 minutes and then use my hands to remove the herbs from the water. If you pour the bowl of herbs and water into a colander, you'll reintroduce all that fine sand to the herbs and you'll need to start over again. I spread the herbs out on a clean towel and let them dry before using them. You can also use a salad spinner to dry them.

Posted June 1, 2009 6:32 PM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2009

Quick tip: easy cleanup for cutting watermelon

Watermelon season is here. We love watermelon and over the course of watermelon season, I cut up a lot of watermelons (at least one a week) for for easy snacking. Cutting a watermelon can be a messy task, so here's a tip to help make cleanup easier.

After you wash your watermelon (yes, always wash your watermelon to remove potential bacteria from the skin), place a large baking sheet on your counter, then place your cutting board in the baking sheet. Now, instead of watermelon juices getting all over your countertop, they will all be contained in the baking sheet and cleanup will be quick and easy.

Once you cut up your watermelon, always refrigerate it. Follow these food safety tips for watermelons.

These tips from the University of Illinois Extension have information about growing, harvesting, selecting and storing, nutrition, and preparing and serving watermelon.

And check out this Watermelon Lovers section of the National Watermelon Promotion Board.

Posted May 23, 2009 9:47 AM | Comments (0)

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